It's our War now
by Autobot NightFury
Summary: A century has passed since the war against the Reapers. Now a new threat lies beyond a deactivated relay, a small team goes through but become a part of a war that has lasted millennia. Now in order to survive, they must work together in order to return home. But can their participation lead to another Reaper war. Find out here! Pairings: OC/OC, OC/Blaster, OC/Starscream (Onesided)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

* * *

_Personal Log. Earth Calender: March 22__nd__, 2287_

_This past month of shore leave has been a God-send; Cruising the Citadel, having lunch on the Presidium, practising in the Spectre firing range and in the Armax Arena near home, perfection – I finally beat Aria T'Loak's high score! But earlier this week, the Councillors called me into their chambers: not only am I to evaluate a potential Spectre candidate, but we're both going to on an exploratory mission through a newly discovered Relay – talk about being thrown back into the fray. But just think; the possibility of discovering a new race, seeing into the unknown, I can't wait!_

_-END RECORDING-_

* * *

"I'm sorry guys, but Council's orders," Andromeda sighed, staring at her comm-screen,

"Ah man! That's bogus!" Miko snapped, her biotics flared a moment in anger,

"But you promised to come," Rafael whimpered, he had wanted to see their old friend again,

"I know and I'm sorry," Andromeda didn't like letting her young friends down. And yes it had been sometime since she had seen them, almost 6 years since her last visit, "How about this, I'll try to stay in contact but where we're going I might drop out. The moment I get back I'll come to the academy personally…I might even bring you souvenirs," she smiled as Miko began jumping about excitedly, Jack and Raf though kept their composure,

"Promise you'll come back?" Jack asked, his tone hopeful yet imploring the Spectre wasn't lying for their benefit,

"I swear on the Galactic Peace, I will return intact," she smiled. "By the way, don't you guys have exams to get to?" their reactions were priceless as both Jack and Raf began fretting the time they had spent talking, Miko on the other hand was very laid back on the matter. "Tell the others I say hi, Andromeda Out," closing the connection as the boys dragged Miko away, she wondered how well they would do.

Grissom Academy had brought out the promise in all their students, not once having to flunk any for poor test scores. Especially when they linked with the newly formed Military Orphan Initiative, where she had begun. But recalling her promise, she only hoped she could keep it.

With her footlocker packed and gear collected, she called a Sky car and made her way to the Docking bays. Stepping out, she met with a docking officer, who immediately directed her to the ship. The SR1-Legacy, a beautiful cruiser made in homage to the century-old SR2-Normandy. Though not strictly of Turian and Human craftsmanship, it has a collection of technology from every council species and then some. Since the Destruction of the Reaper forces a century ago, all races involved in the conflict have united for the sake of peace.

With the Citadel now orbiting with Earth, at first many had argued the arrangement but there was no other way of returning the Citadel to it's original place. But that didn't hamper what was achieved; Krogans were cured of the Genophage and were recuperating and colonising. They even made peace with the Salarians, with the help of Chief Warlord Urdnot Wrex and his wife Urdnot Bakara. Thessia, Palavern and many other homeworlds were under mend and thriving again, especially the Quarians and the Geth. They were now able to roam among other races without the concern of weakened immunity; many were entranced by the intricate and stunning look of their newly strengthened allies. The Geth came as a surprise as they began to interact almost like an organic race. Another surprise came with the Rachni, they too became more involved in Galactic Affairs though largely wishing to remain alone on their newest homeworld.

Many who died in the conflict were idolised and recognised as heroes to be retold throughout the ages, especially Commander Shepard. Though she had survived the ordeal, living the remainder of her life with her wife Liara T'Soni – who is still alive this day – she was a model to all who joined the Alliance and Spectres. It would be hard to live up to such an ideal but Andromeda aimed to try.

"Spectre Connors, welcome back to the Legacy," an Ensign saluted as she came aboard,

"Thank you," she smiled, returning the salute, "Is there anything I need to be briefed on before we depart?" watching as the Ensign shook his head,

"No, Ma'am. I am to show you to your quarters along with informing you that one..." he pulled out a datapad and scrolled the contents until he found a picture, "Lt. Daveth Quademus will be accompanying you, this datapacket was left by a Council attendant for you to review." Taking the data pad, she followed the officer to the top level of the ship, where the Captain's cabin was found. Confused as to why she was taken here, as well as surprised to find a second and a third set of living quarters, "Asari design ma'am, they design their ships so First, Second and Third in command have their own quarters, this is yours for the remainder of the mission," nodding, she took in the small quarters – larger than what she was used to in a Citadel frigate but still homey. Moving her locker to the foot of her bed, she glanced around the room. Her own terminal, desk and communication screen, there were also smaller aesthetics like a fish tank and an armoury/weaponry terminal.

"_Do you require assistance, Spectre?_" came a disembodied voice, looking to a terminal near the door; Andromeda found a holographic interface projecting a small image of a Geth,

"No, just taking it all in," Andromeda replied, approaching the terminal, "Could you please alert me when Lt. Quademus' arrives…uh…" now she recalled she had not been introduced to the Geth stationed on the ship, feeling awkward for requesting something from one she had not been acquainted with,

"_We are designated Hunter, Spectre, an easy analogy to our hardware's basic functions as a Geth Hunter unit, a pleasure to meet you_," the little hologram bowed, as he couldn't really make any facial impression,

"The pleasure is mine Hunter, I hope we can get along," Andromeda smiled, having enjoyed the company of more than 1 artificial being, Geth being among them,

"_We hope so too, not many on this ship feel the same_," Hunter replied, "_Should you wish to speak with us more directly, our main platform is located in the cockpit – We have been outfitted to be the Pilot for this mission_,"

"Excellent, at least we have a significantly reduced risk of crashing now," Andromeda smiled, "I can't tell how many times I wonder how most pilots passed their training with the way they fly,"

"_We acknowledge this as a great compliment, Spectre, Thank you_," Hunter smiled, his hologram flickered a moment before turning back, "_Captain Douglas Coyle on deck and requesting your presence for a debriefing, Lt. Daveth Quademus on deck, all crewmen, medical and engineering staff all present, we depart in 0100 hours_,"

"Again, Thank you Hunter, I hope we can speak again in person," she smiled, moving to walk out of her quarters,

"_We would like that, Spectre, logging you out,_" the hologram disappeared as Andromeda made her way to Deck 2. She thought a moment before leaving that it would be best to change out of her dress blues and into her armour, with the way she recalled how Coyle manned a ship she would need the extra protection.

Pulling out her footlocker, she removed her prized armour: it was the full Armax Arsenal armor set, won from one of her Arena sessions. It had a black and purple detail along with her N7 red and white stripe and emblazed with both the N7 symbol and the Spectre logo. Securing each clasp and buckle, running a systems check to ensure her suit was sealed and operational. She turned to securing heat sink rounds; lift grenades and her weapons to their magnetic holsters. Having an N7 background allowed even one in her class to train with all weapon types, the added strength in her suit allowing her to carry her small arsenal. All were N7 grade weapons; collapsing and hitching each one to its own magnetic clasp, reaching the bottom of the locker she smiled at the last weapon: a Spectre Issue Black Widow sniper rifle; a gift from her Spectre mentor Riddick Cadmus, a veteran of 50 years.

Smiling, she easily collapsed the heavy-duty sniper and secured it to her back, moving about to test their connections, finding they were secure and wouldn't disconnect by accident. Feeling prepared and ready for anything, Andromeda headed out to meet with the Captain.

Using the long elevator trip productively, she read through the datapad left for her. Andromeda never expected to be mentoring a potential Spectre so soon in her own career. The Council had really been pushing recruitment to bolster the number of Spectres since the Reaper Wars.

Reading his history, Daveth had an interesting method of command as well as a compassionate viewpoint in leading. A good military background and a Primarch's son no less; a tricky combination, but if his service record spoke anything of him, he definitely had promise.

Stepping out, she was directed by the Yeoman to head back to the briefing room behind the CIC. Heading there, she came to find the Captain of the Legacy and Lt. Quademus in a heated glaring contest, but it dispersed once she stepped in,

"Ah, Spectre Connors, so…good of you to join us," Captain Coyle drawled, his tone had been heavily masked but she still caught the hint of distain in his words, "I hope you're quarters are…fitting,"

"Yes sir, Hunter has been very helpful and enlightening," she replied, "But I was under the assumption that this was a mission brief, and time is of the essence before we embark,"

"Indeed," turning to the conference table, a holographic display of a Mass Relay appeared, "Joint Alliance and _Alien_ engineers stumbled across this Mass Relay while repairing another in a near by system. Its deactivated as far as we are aware but both the Council and Systems Alliance want a team to make the jump through the relay and explore what is on the other side," Coyle explained, and though not been formally introduced, Andromeda could see Daveth was picking up the same vibe as she was, "We have a prepped science team ready on standby once we make the jump,"

"And what of encountering new life, Captain?" Daveth enquired, receiving another glare from the man. "Galactic protocol dictates when approaching a new life form is to assume hostile, I doubt a science team or many on this ship could do so otherwise,"

"A marine squad, known as the Hell Raisers – a collective initiative hired by the Council to accompany as support in case we come across hostile life. An added bonus, they called on the support of Aralakh company, a small band or _Krantt_ or whatever they call it with a Battlemaster," he replied, though refusing to look at the Turian Lieutenant,

"Very well, though the discovery of life would be an excellent find, we need to remember hostilities can be diffused with a more…diplomatic approach Captain, which is why the Council place me on this mission," she added, "I would like to meet the Science and Marine teams before we make the jump into the unknown, if you please excuse us," making a small 'come' gesture to Daveth, they both turned to leave when,

"I assure you, Spectre Connors, they are adequate in their fields," Captain Coyle interjected, "Besides, you are here to advise," his tone was hard and harsh, "Why not retire to your quarters and inform your council we are set and ready to depart," she had guessed he would've added 'like a good little girl' but he was otherwise holding his tongue, if barely.

"As true as that is Captain, I am still a member of the ground team once we land beyond the relay. I would rather know who is guarding my 6 then go in blind, a practise I would hope you express as well," she returned his glare before leaving, "Should you require me again Captain, you need only call," but before he could reply, both the human Spectre and Turian Lieutenant had already left.

"Ma'am, I don't mean to speak out of turn but…" Daveth glanced back toward the briefing room before stepping into the elevator with her, "Did Captain Coyle come off as…bitter to you?" he asked, seemingly relaxing as she smiled back,

"Personally I would've said racist or sexist. That's a good eye Lieutenant, no wonder the Council deems you a potential," she replied, "And I read your file, some good work you've done,"

"Ah, thank you ma'am…might I speak freely ma'am?" he asked, surprised when he pulled a chuckle from her,

"Please Lieutenant, we're going to be spending the next few months or even more in each other's company and service. There is no real need for formality with me; I'm rather laid back for Spectre standards. You can call me Andy," that was surprising, "And yes, you may,"

"Well…um…well I am glad to able to prove myself as a Spectre but…I ask you not take into account my…origins," he stated, "I know I am the Primarch's son but I don't wished to favoured because of that fact," looking to Andromeda, he noted how her expression matched a human phrase he had come across, '_You're kidding right?_'

"Daveth, I will be blunt; had you been here solely because of your father, you would be a Spectre already and a poor one at that," she stated, crossing her arms and looking directly at him, "Or it would be your father taking this evaluation on your behalf. You are here on your own merits, your own accomplishments and because you deserve it," her scowl turned into a genuine smile, placing a hand on his arm as his shoulder was slightly out of reach. "I know you will do your father proud, because it was through your own powers that brought you here,"

"I…thank you ma'am," he smiled, whether he didn't expect such a response or was touched, what mattered was that she meant every word. From there, they headed to the science and marine teams to get a feel of their capabilities; the heads of each team came to speak with them and leaving the impression they would follow orders and adhere to the mission objective without concern.

They had already taken over the shuttle bay, leaving the workspaces for the armoury techs and shuttle engineers but began to set up bunks, workstations and even sparring mats and shooting ranges. Andromeda was happy to find they were only using dummy rounds filled with paint so no one blew out a bulkhead by accident.

2 in particular caught her attention; an Asari and a juvenile Krogan were already sparing on the mats, almost on Par with one another. They were already accumulating a crowd; whispers of bets and competition were rife among them as they watched the pair go at it.

Andromeda was pleased and decided to rest up before they make the jump. Daveth wished to remain on the Crew deck and, if very stereotypical of a Turian, see if he could calibrate the forward cannon to maximise its effectiveness. Shaking her head, she headed back up to the elevator when a small squeak caught her attention, glancing toward the starboard observation deck. She just caught as the door closed, a male human crewman advancing on a timid Quarian girl.

"Man, the mission hasn't even started yet," she sighed, making a beeline for the observation deck. The door opening as she approached, revealing the crewman boxing the scared Quarian against the wall,

"Come on, love, pretty thing like you, half the crew would be after you, let me…help you," he smirked, trailing his fingers over the poor woman's arms. Since the Geth and Quarians united during the Reaper wars, the Quarians would nowadays have no need to where helmets yet their environmental suits remained an intricate part of their culture. And she doubted this was one of the reactions they wanted,

"Is there a problem here, officer?" she asked, watching as he jumped and turned to her. The poor Quarian looked scared out of her mind which gave Andromeda another reason to beat this guy sideways,

"No, no nothing wrong here ma'am," he tried to cover his tracks, looping an arm around his little victim in the hopes it would put her at ease,

"Oh but I think there is something wrong here, if I catch you harassing her again, then the Captain will be the least of your worries," Andromeda hissed, approaching him, seemingly growing as he shrank, "Return to your post, officer," he wasted no time in running off like the devil was at his heels. "Are you okay?" turning her attention back to the Quarian, she seemed to be calming down,

"Oh yes, thank you ma'am," she replied, hastily saluting her,

"At ease, and you're very welcome," placing a hand on the shorter woman, Andromeda still couldn't get over how the Quarians really looked; a rather human face though lacking a human nose and ears, replaced with a more serpentine nostril cavity and covered hearing canals. Their eyes were also otherworldly with their iris colours being vibrant and bold while the rest of their eyes were black or a deep purple. A trident crest darkening to a royal ruby purple grew out from their faces. Though males seemed to lack, woven spines resembling thin dreadlocks starting from under the crest to over the rest of her head, tied in a small pony-tail or some intricate design. "I'm Andromeda by the way, Andromeda Connors,"

"Oh yes, you are the Spectre overseeing the mission. I am Medical officer Lea'Haren nar…I mean vas Legacy," she saluted again, though Andromeda picked up on her correction,

"Were you going to say nar Rannoch?" she asked, watching her new Quarian friend slump, walking out with the Spectre in tow as she explained,

"Yes, only because I'd rather be there or even the Citadel than here, Captain Coyle is…a very difficult man," she was surprised when her Spectre visitor snorted a laugh,

"That has to be the nicest thing anyone has ever called him," she smiled, taking a seat on one of the Medical berths, "Some would say he's harsh to get the best out of everyone, but I've known him long enough to think otherwise, if he causes you anymore trouble, come straight to me okay?"

"Okay, Thank you Spectre Connors," Lea smiled, before turning back to her work,

"Just Andy to my friends," she added before leaving. It was going to be a long trip, and with Coyle as Captain, it was going to be longer.

Once back in her quarters, she felt it necessary to call the council and confirm everything was in order. Setting up the call, the screen darkened then sprung alight with the 6 councillors; Tevos, the Asari councillor; Rowland Howe, the Human Councillor; Urdnot Ladmia, the Krogan Councillor; Vrolik'Tethas nar Rannoch, the Quarian Councillor; Leviticus, the Turian Councillor and Edreon, the Salarian Councillor.

"_Greetings Spectre Connors, We hope everything is in order on the Legacy_?" Tevos asked, smiling to the young Spectre. Saluting, Andromeda stood at rest,

"Yes Councillors, all crew members are present and accounted for, supplies stocked and everything is in order…" she paused a moment, debating whether to make note of her concerns or not,

"_Is there something you wish to discuss, Connors?_" Leviticus asked, looking at her sternly,

"I…Might I ask why Captain Coyle was called on to undertake this mission?" she asked,

"_Captain Coyle is a respectable Alliance Captain," _Rowland stepped in, _"The decision was unanimous to place him as Captain of the Legacy, his service record proves his capabilities_," he argued, but that didn't convince Andromeda,

"With all due respect sir, but Captian Coyle's restraints towards non-humans can only go so far, he is known for his…dislike of working with Alien crewmen," she explained, hoping the report would come as a surprise to the other councillors, but they remained quiet if it had or not,

"_Be that as it may Spectre Connors, Captain Coyle was the only choice at our disposal, what ever other concerns there may be will need to be put aside for the sake of the mission_" Councillor Edreon stated, all the Councillors agreeing,

"Very well, I apologise for bringing up any undo concerns," Andromeda nodded, their discussion coming to an end, but not before a small message was sent, marked by the Council with the exclusion of Councillor Howe,

"Watch Coyle carefully. Should his prejudice jeopardise the crew or the mission, you have the authority to supersede him – signed, Tevos, Leviticus, Ladmia, Vrolik'Tethas and Edreon" She was happy to know the Council had her back in the matter. Now all she had to do was send a quick message to the kids back at the Academy before retiring for the cycle.

* * *

**AN: I've been wanting to write something like this for a while now and, thanks to my besties PixelTheLittlestFemme and Cotton Candy Dream and my younger brother, I have found the inspiration to write this fic. I will make note, yes it is a MExTransformers crossover but once we get to Cybertron, I'm mixing elements from the TF novel EXODUS as well as the games WFC/FOC. Enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

_Personal Log. Earth Calender: May 7__th__, 2287_

_So…it's been a little over a month since we departed from the Citadel. We docked at the Maintenance facility on the Planet Capek, Titan Nebula, to receive a debriefing on this new relay to get everyone up to date on the Mission parameters; purely scientific discovery, if encountered with native life and they are perceived as sentient to a degree, attempt diplomatic introductions._

_Basically we're going to find something no one else has seen before and if we find someone remotely able to speak and form sentences, say hi and welcome them back for tea. Simple enough. But Coyle isn't making this as easy as it should be; some fights had broken out on the ship, purely argumentative or friendly banter over the results of a game; he would throw the alien 'offender' to the brig while his human crewmen got off free, otherwise he would ignore the issue all together. It's certainly caused a number of tensions to spring up around the ship, both the leaders of the Hell Raisers and Aralakh company have approached me to fix the issue but men like Coyle are as stubborn as bricks._

_I have no idea why the Council thought he was the best choice for this but…I don't know maybe something else is going on, or Coyle is one of the luckiest bastards I know._

_- END RECORDING -_

* * *

Making a full rotation around the derelict Mass Relay, there was significant evidence to show it had been inactive for an extended amount of time, wear and age visible on its surface. The maintenance team had managed to get it back up and running and was capable of a jump, if only strong enough for one.

"Get prepared Geth, we're making the jump now," Coyle sneered, glowering at the powering Relay,

"_Again, we are designated Hunter for your convenience. Prepping Eezo core and FTL drive for Relay jump, triangulating co-ordinates…standby,_" Hunter had reminded the good captain more than once to use his actual name and not once seemed to tire of reminding him, the captain merely sneered and looked back to the relay,

"Just get us through the rely now! Don't both with the technical jargon, just plot a random jump!" Coyle ordered, drooping in defeat Hunter resigned himself and continued with projecting their jump, "This is it, history in the making," he smirked, watching as they approached the relay, Andromeda standing beside him and Daveth on his opposite but standing well back from the captain.

Andromeda had the feeling that such history was going to be rife with misfortune. "Sir, wouldn't it be better if Hunter triangulated a drop point base on the Probe scans the techs sent through last week, side on caution rather than blindly jumping into the unknown," she suggested, but he would have nothing of it,

"The probe reported no errors or danger! Question me again and I'll have your hide thrown in the brig. Then we'll see how great a Spectre you are," he had intended to whisper such a statement but both Andromeda and Daveth heard him, sighing from his chauvinistic insult.

"_Approaching the relay, stand by_," Hunter's voice echoed through the ship, everyone attending their stations as they drew in,_"Rerouting excess energy from Drive core to non-critical systems…stabilizing…jump achieved_," Coyle remained undeterred while Andromeda crossed her fingers, hoping nothing horrific would happen…unfortunately she cursed herself for jinxing the jump. "_Brace for deceleration_," Hunter announced, Coyle used the pilot's chair as a brace while his 2nd and 3rd used the door frame, but the moment they reduced speed, the space scape was alight with weapons fire, space debris and an all out battle,

"Look Out!" Coyle shouted,

"Everyone! Evasive positions, we've just jumped into a battlefield!" Andromeda's voice now echoed the ship and bringing panic. "Hunter! Get us out of here!"

"_Affirmative. Disengaging FTL drives…Emission sinks active…assuming battle stations. Commencing evasive manoeuvres_," Hunter's fingers flew over the consoles, steering the ship out of targeting range, managing turns and drops no human pilot could pull off,

"Engineering! Status Report!" Coyle snapped, trying to hold onto Hunter's seat as the ship buffeted and shifted,

"_Kinetic Barriers are taking a beating! The core can't take much more!_" came the reply, background noise of people screaming and cursing as they tried to maintain the core, "_Shit! Engine room has been breached! Core is critical!_"

"_Multiple Hull breaches! Emergency procedures in effect! All crewmembers evacuate levels 7 through 10! Containing breaches!_" Hunter called, hoping to spur the surviving crewmembers into escaping the breaches before sealing them,

"Hunter! Initiate emergency evacuation!" Andromeda shouted, coming to Daveth's aid as he helped others in the CIC,

"Belay that Order! Engineering get your rears in gear and fix the problem! Geth keep this ship on course!" Coyle ordered, glaring at Andromeda as she helped the panicking crewmembers,

"Captain!" Daveth snapped, "We'll get ripped apart in this carnage! It's better if we save as many of the crew as we can! We need to evacuate!" Coyle shot him a glare, marching straight to his face,

"Know your place, Turian!" he hissed, "This ship will stay on course! I will not have this mission jeopardised by a bunch of cowards!" turning back to Hunter, he was seething with anger, "Prime the main guns, cut through the debris!"

Hunter followed his orders. The Thanix cannon built into the forward battery was lowered from its compartment, powering up for immediate response but a stray shot from the unknown enemy struck the powering cannon. The explosion rocking the ship, propelling it into rock debris resulting in more hull breaches,

"We're all going to die!" a bridge officer screamed, everyone panicking as the Bridge was loosing integrity,

"Maintain course!" Coyle ordered, refusing to compromise until Andromeda stood up to him

"We're all going to die because to can't take a hint!" she hissed, "Hunter! I'm invoking Spectre Status; initiate evacuation protocols and prep the escape pods! Triangulate for a planetary landing! And get it done NOW!" looking to the Geth in question,

"_Authorisation acknowledged. Attention all crew members, evacuation protocols are in effect, evac shuttles prepped and ready for extraction_," Hunter sounded the alert and everyone began evacuation procedures. Coyle's voice was drowned out by the confusion and panic. The bridge was breached and the engines were going offline, he cursed his SIC and ran straight to the pods without a care of anyone else. Looking back as Andromeda, Daveth and Hunter tried to get everyone to the pods, the Captain looked to the pods lining beside him.

"Daveth, get these people into the pods, I'll head to the shuttle bay and pick up any stragglers!" she called. Fastening her modded Mnemonic visor - feeling as the recon hood and breather snapped into place from a collapsible state and hooking into her suit. Fully sealed and allowing the oxygen and shield systems to kick in, Andromeda took off running down to the lower levels. Everything was in chaos as she tried to get everyone to the pods. It pained her to see many were already dead from the many hull breaches the cruiser had taken but with the drive core going critical, it would only get worse. "Come on! Go! Go!" she cried, motioning to the pods and watching as each one filled to capacity, sealed and shot out to the planet below. Moving to the shuttle bay, many of the Hell Raisers and Aralakh Company had made it to the pods, securing weapons, ammo and supplies before the destruction took them. "Daveth! Report, did everyone get to the pods?!" she called, running with the remaining assault teams, securing their pods and shooting them off,

"_There was some…unfortunates caught in the breaches but most on decks 4 through 1 have been successful evacuated!_" he replied, yelling over the carnage surrounding him, "_Engineering took the heaviest toll but few were able to make it out before the core vented! Now it's just you, me and a few others on the ship, including Hunter!_"

"Hunter! Meet up with Lt. Quademus and get to a pod now! I'm on route to you!" she ordered, rushing to an emergency ladder and scaled to the higher decks, making a run for the escape pods,

"_Affirmative, Spectre, We have also managed to rescue Medical Officer Creator-Lea'Haren before the medbay was breached_!" he replied, he too yelled over the explosions echoing around him.

"Great! I'm almost there!" she cried, only to be knocked by an explosion, throwing her into the bulkhead,

"_Connors?! Andy what happened! We gotta go now!_" Daveth cried, aiding the disorientated Spectre to focus,

"Go without me! I'll follow you out!" She replied, checking her suit for breaches before pushing on,

"_No! We go together!_" Daveth argued, but Andromeda wasn't going to have it,

"Lieutenant! I am giving you a direct order! Get in that pod now! Secure the safety of the others with you and get planeside. I swear I'll be right behind you!" she snapped, coming to the last deck.

"_Affirmative. Heading out!_" came his reply and the feint sound of their pod ejecting placed her at ease. Running to the pods, she just made it to the pods when the last 3 exploded, causing a support beam to pierce through the wall, just missing her but piercing the last pod, she was trapped.

"Damn it!" she snapped, her shields taking another explosion as it pushed her back. She racked her brain for a way to get off this ship before it blew, who knew when it would, an idea struck her – it was a long shot but perhaps… She immediately sprinted back to the shuttle bay, bypassing the ladders and jumped down to find to her delight was an intact shuttle. Her flight experience may have been limited but the past month conversing with Hunter, watching his piloting, she felt like this was the only option. Jumping on, strapped in and kicking up the engines, she powered the shields and primed the guns, blasting her way through before everything went critical. Sparing mere seconds before the SR1 Legacy went nova. It's Eezo core igniting the dark sky in a phase blue explosion.

Sighing in relief, she easily found a bare space to fly down to the planet and meet up with the other survivors. The Shuttle was already picking up pods within a 5-klick radius and making a course for the nearest pod,

"WARNING: Atmospheric composition hazardous to organic life," the on-board VI drawled, bringing up a holo-screen of its analysis,

"Yeesh, 63% Nitrogen, 22% Methane, 6% Carbon Dioxide and minor detections of Carbon Monoxide, Hydrogen, Nitrous Oxide, Neo, Xenon, Argon, Ammonia and miscellaneous gases, this is bad." Turning control of the shuttle to the VI, she opened a wide comm line, "Attention all Surviving crewmen of the SR1 Legacy. The atmospheric composition of this planet is not habitable to organic life. Do not exit pods unless in sealed suits. Gravity reads normal but atmosphere is hazardous. Enviro-suits and sealed armour is highly advised!"

"_We read you, Thank you Spectre Connors_," came the replies. Most pods reading green much to her relief,

"_Andromeda! Thank the spirits, are you okay? What's your location? Hunter can't pick up your pod signature,_" Daveth radioed, his voice full of relief,

"At ease Lieutenant, I had to improvise. I managed to escape in one of the undamaged shuttles when my pod and the remaining pods were compromised. Heading to your location now," she replied, watching the monitors as she approached a decaying building; a large impact zone with the pod being suspended within the structure. She could already see Daveth, Lea and Hunter at the opening of their pod and waiting for her to hover close enough to jump the gap. As she drew closer, she could see 2 others in the pod with them. "Nice and easy," she hummed, try to be as careful as possible and, aided by the VI, she managed to get the hatch open and close enough for them to jump on.

"Oh Goddess! Took you long enough," one of the new comers exclaimed. She was an Asari – a commando by the look of her. Granted she didn't wear the heavier armour like the other commandos did but more so light armour with coat tails.

"You can say that again," added the other. A juvenile Krogan, if his segmented crest was anything to go by. Andromeda recognised both of them as the pair sparing on the ship. She had seen them many times during their primary stages of the mission – either fighting, tending to weapons or in friendly banter and drinking contests.

"Well excuse me if a cruiser was blowing up around me," Andromeda smirked, stepping aside for Hunter to take the helm and setting a course to the next few pods. Once Daveth jumped across, the pod slanted and collapsed from the structure, destroyed on impact,

"That was too close," he mused, glancing over the edge at the now wrecked pod,

"Good thing I got all the medi-gel out before you pushed it over," Lea chuckled, her voice turned synthetic through her familiar helmet,

"Gotta try harder to get me to blush," he snickered, finding it all in good fun before moving to Andromeda. "Glad you got off alright,"

"Yeah me too," she sighed, letting the full weight of the situation sink in, "I just hope this is all worth it," taking a seat in the carriage next to Lea, who began scanning and checking her for any injuries or ruptures. "We walked straight into an all out shoot out and got struck down, maybe the relay was deactivated for a reason,"

"We can't worry about that now," Lea placed her thin tri-fingered hand on Andromeda's shoulder, "We need to regroup and figure out a way to get back home. The mission be damned for all I care, besides it was Captain Coyle's call and he shot straight in without a plot vector," standing from next to Andromeda, Lea moved to each of the others and ran checks in case they were injured or their suits were compromised,

"_Creator Lea'Haren is correct, Spectre. Coyle Captain had not allowed us to triangulate a proper vector. If given the chance, we could have dropped out of FTL 3000 kliks from the warzone_," Hunter added, glancing back a moment to his passengers, returning to monitoring the other pods' vitals and travelling,

"Thanks…for what it's worth," Andromeda sighed. "Hunter, make a note of that. When we get out of here…I'm gonna make sure Coyle gets what's coming," she hissed,

"Double for me," Daveth smirked, pulling a smile from his commander,

"Not before I get a beat down in," the Asari hissed, checking over her weapons like a meticulous artist,

"So, got a name?" Daveth asked, standing by the hatch instead of sitting with the others. Watching as the Asari cradled her Disciple shotgun,

"Sure do love, name's Alyssa and about the best damn biotic in the Justicars," she smirked, her fist flaring with biotic energy before leaning back in her seat,

"I thought the Justicar order was wiped out during the Reaper war," Andromeda inquired,

"Trying to restart the order, recruiting young too," Alyssa replied, "I'm only 180 and they let me in. Most of the 'sacred' texts were lost when Thessia was attacked but they're trying to rebuild as closely to the original as they could, better to start young,"

"Well, if Justicar adepts are as proficient as rumour suggests, we're glad to have you," Andromeda smiled. "Spectre Andromeda Connors at you service," saluting nonchalantly, followed by the others,

"Lt. Daveth Guademus," he nodded, his salute a bit more serious than his superiors,

"Medical officer Lea'Haren nar Rannoch and Hunter is our pilot," Lea smiled, directing her to the Geth manning the shuttle,

"_Greetings, Alyssa Justicar_," he replied, returning to his duties,

"Wow, certainly got an unlikely team here," Alyssa smirked, petting her gun before returning it to its magnetic holster, "This ought to be interesting. What about you muscles?" she asked the Krogan, who seemed too quiet for one of his race,

"Graz…Taylth Graz. Proud member of Aralakh Company," he grumbled, glaring at Alyssa for her pet name, otherwise just looking at the others,

"Wow, recruiting must be low if they're recruiting young too," Alyssa mumbled, pulling a grumble from said Krogan,

"I passed my Rite, squid-head. Survived a Thresher Maw too," he hissed, defending himself,

"And even with that, I've heard Aralakh company are very critical of their recruits, just shows how accomplished you must be," Lea smiled, seeing her sincerity had relaxed the riled Krogan, returning to his stance on the opposite hatch,

"_Spectre, we have arrived at the next pod, prepare for landing_," Replacing their helmets and activating their oxygen systems, Hunter fluidly stirred them to a level area and remained on the shuttle while Lea, Andromeda and Daveth stepped out, Alyssa and Graz covering the rear. Now having the proper chance to survey this new world, they were surprised to find themselves on a large stretch of…highway?

"It…looks like the sky highways on those historical Earth vids," Lea mused, looking around at all the tall and damaged buildings,

"Yeah, and all these buildings…a city maybe?" Daveth added, staring up with Lea,

"No…more like a Metropolis, the city just seems to keep going despite its condition," walking point, N7 Valkyrie assault rifle raised, Andromeda lead them to the pod. Watching the perimeter, Lea stepped forward and scanned the inside of the pod,

"No life signs, maybe we're too late," Lea frowned, showing her scans to Andromeda,

"Or it's full of supplies and tech. I saw some of them scientists stockpiling as much tech as they could into the pods," Alyssa added, moving to the second pod close by,

"Or munitions," Grax followed the asari Justicar, despite his dislike of her currently, "some of my Krantt were stuffing as much ammunition and heavy weapons as they could. From memory, we got all the great stuff: M-920 Cain, M-560 Hydra, rocket launchers and proximity mines, maybe more,"

"I'm getting the same readings from the second pod, I think Alyssa and Graz are right," Lea scanned the second pod and read the results out. Moving to one of them, Andromeda called up her omni-tool and easily hacked the pod's systems. Activating its opening procedures, it was much like the others said. Inside was research tech, scanners and collection equipment. A happy cry pulled her attention to find the other pod was the munitions Graz mentioned. Both he and Alyssa were already trying to decide which heavy weapons to take, stocking up on grenades, ammo and anything else they could carry. Figuring these could come in handy; some of the tech from Andromeda's discovery was taken back to the shuttle. What they couldn't carry was reduced to Omni-gel and each one taking as much as they could reduce.

"That's 2 pods done, how many more are there?" Daveth questioned, removing his helmet again in the maintained cabin of the shuttle,

"_Scanning…scans indicate 12 pods remain. 5 have been opened while 8 remain…2 of which show no signs of life_" Hunter reported, powering the engines and getting the shuttle airborne,

"How far apart are the pods. Looks like we're not going to have a lot of daylight left and I would rather not attempt an extraction at night," Andromeda inquired, coming to the cockpit to view Hunter's report,

"_5 pods landed within 2 kliks – all showing signs indicating occupants of each pod have exited their pods – 7 kliks from current position. 2 pods landing within a 5-klick radius due north Indication: pods remain sealed. 5 remaining pods indicate as sealed – life signs unable to detect, pods register as damaged_," Hunter rambled, showing his results on screen,

"The 5 damaged pods are the closest. Hunter, plot a course for the damaged pods before we lose any more light. Lea, prepare for injured," feeling the shuttle shift, they watched and waited to arrive, hoping to either find crewmembers alive or a good fight.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

_Personal Log. Earth Calender: May 8__th__, 2287_

_So; stuck on an alien world, limited supplies, not one encounter with indigenous life and riding on the hope a single shuttle could evacuate over 100 surviving crewmembers … no pressure at all._

_It was unfortunate that once we reached the damaged pods Hunter discovered all the pods where damaged on impact. Slamming through one of the many damaged buildings, a support beam loosened and crushed the pod below. Another 2 had crashed into one another; both warped and…riddled with the dead. The last 2 had been opened, bodies of their occupants showed they had died of suffocation and toxic inhalation. No doubt they missed the atmospheric warning._

_Tragic. This was never meant to happen. All of this could've been avoided…I wish there was something I could've done to save them…_

_-END RECODING-_

* * *

Packing up camp, Andromeda left a small grave marker for the unfortunates lost to them. Hunter powered the shuttle and took off. Most of the trip he had been trying to hail the other pods but to no avail. They managed to pick up the last 2 supplies and munitions pods, all packed to capacity on omni-gel, ammo, grenades and rations. It wasn't much but enough to give a small glimpse of hope.

Passing through more over turned buildings and war torn streets, Hunter managed to get the crew to the mass-landing site of the last pods. No doubt Captain Coyle was there with the others, giving them all a chance to vent and arrest him. Exiting the shuttle to find all 5 pods…exposed, the sight of dead crewmen and soldiers did nothing to assure the small team. Piles of dead crewmembers were enough to warrant caution.

Most of the bodies were of non-humans – Krogan, Asari, Turian and Salarian – with only a handful of human remains. But they weren't strewed out like ragdolls, no evidence of a firefight, their bodies were lined up and a single gunshot wound to their heads. Despite the lack of a struggle or fighting, it was a bloodbath in all. Sending Daveth and Alyssa to the flanks, Andromeda and Graz covered Lea as she tallied the dead for the records. Perhaps find anything that would tell them what happened,

"They…were restrained before they were shot," Lea sighed, running multiple scans and noting the makeshift cuffs each dead alien had,

"Maybe we do have natives, and they have guns," Graz rumbled, his gun in hand and ready for a fight should said natives return,

"Then lets not stick around longer than necessary," Andromeda ordered, looking over the dead in the hopes of a survivor, as a stretch as it was.

"Over here! We got a live one!" Daveth suddenly cried. Running to him to find a human woman, clutching her side as blood poured from the wound,

"Hold on! We got you," Alyssa was with her immediately as the others caught up, but the woman shook her head,

"Couldn't…stop him…he's mad…" she gasped, "He…he…" coughing and gagging showed she must've had other internal injuries,

"Who? Who did this?" Lea asked, frowning at her scan results; she was dying and too far-gone even for her to save,

"He…made us…shoot…My friends…my wife…" her voice cracked with emotion, tilting her head back to look over the dead, "I couldn't…do what…he wanted,"

"Get a hold of yourself, tell us what happened," Daveth ordered. She was delirious from the atmospheric toxins seeping into her wound. Lightheaded and incoherent; Andromeda approached and placed a hand on her shoulder. She watched as the woman looked to her,

"Ensign…let us help you, we'll make sure he pay for his crimes," she soothed, "Help us, to help you."

"Captain…did this…" they froze at her response, as if such a notion was inconceivable, considering all the circumstances,

"I knew he was a racist and a xenophobe…but this…" Andromeda gapped,

"Forced us…ordered…to kill the…alien crewmen. If you did…you live…if not…you die with them," the woman groaned, falling limp a moment before another cough racked her body, "Some…shot…to live…I…I couldn't…not Nery," her good arm reached out, as if trying to grab the arm of a dead Asari not too far away, "Refused…but he shot…instead…my sweet Nery…" her desperation was heart wrenching. Alyssa stood from the group, carefully picked up the Asari and laid her next to the woman,

"May you find peace, in the embrace of the Goddess," she recited, emotion clinging to each word as she watched the woman embrace the corpse of her wife. Her head lying on her shoulder and taking her hands into hers,

"I'm coming Nery…I'll be with you soon…" with a final breath, they were together again. Leaving a pair and as they were, the team returned to the ship,

"We have to stop him!" Daveth snapped, angered by the mess left in their wake, "That bastard is responsible for all of these deaths! We can't let him walk!"

"Oh not before I get my hands on him," Alyssa's biotic rung full force, wrapping her in a warping blue aura, "I might be new to all this Justicar code, but that guy is going down,"

"And he will," turning back to Andromeda, she stood before them, "Hunter, track down Coyle," she said nothing more as she took her place back in the cabin, still in mourning,

"Great, something to shoot," Graz smirked,

"_Acknowledge,_" he replied,

As the shuttle took off and headed toward Coyle's current location, Andromeda groaning as she racked her mind over the newest complication while the others stocked up on ammo, grenades and anything else deemed necessary. Why do this? Sure he was a complicated, angry man but to survive all of this they had to stick together, not stab each other in the back. He had a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

The shuttle flew through another derelict building before Hunter locked on Coyle's location, but it wasn't what they expected. From their high vantage point, Coyle's little team were being overwhelmed by…

"Are those…robots?" Alyssa gapped, staring at the monitor,

"Not Geth…but definitely a synthetic race," Lea nodded, "Should we help, Andromeda?" turning to their commanding officer, who also stared at the monitor,

"We help. But not for Coyle but for those poor souls he pulled into this," she affirmed, telling Hunter to take them in, "Daveth, Graz you're on the guns. Alyssa and I will cover and Lea, make sure everyone gets onto the shuttle," agreeing to the plan, Hunter guided the ship over the battlefield. Releasing the hatch, Graz roared in glee as he let loose a barrage across the attacking lines. The momentary halt of returning fire sprung hope to the surviving crew, "Get to the shuttle!" Andromeda yelled, aiming her Black Widow to their attackers, peering down her scope and firing on the enemy. But for a split second, one she didn't register, she had hoped they would all get out of this alive until she fell and hit the ground. Gathering herself, she looked back in shock to find Coyle had taken them by surprise. Not even bothering to shoot any down, he used the surprise to kick and push everyone off the shuttle. Even Hunter lacked the response time to stop the Captain from pushing him off when attending to Lea's aid, throwing them both to the ground,

"COYLE! YOU BASTARD!" the echo of profanities and insults fell on deaf ears as the captain, in a selfish attempt to survive, abandoned them all to their fate. His distraction proved fatal as the attacking natives resumed firing, taking out those exposed.

"If we're going to be stuck here! He will too!" Alyssa aimed her missile launcher at the retreating shuttle and took the shot. Fate was truly not on their side as the missile was led to a pile of rubble; the shuttle easily dodged the pile of scrap but the missile exploded on contact. Swearing and seething, Andromeda pulled her down before a shot struck her head,

"Forget him!" she yelled, turning the Justicar's attention back to the advancing enemy, "We have to get out of here!" calling out to each of her team and the surviving crewmembers, pointing to a ridge that could cover their retreat. Everyone made a run for it ridge while Andromeda and the others covered their rears, freezing from the cries of pain behind them. Looking back, to their horror, the surviving crew were all struck down. They were ambushed, no trapped by 2 advancing squads.

Guns raised in a futile attempt at defence, the small mixed team was now surrounded by these strange new robots. Each arm raised, transforming into guns of all different sorts, daring them to shoot.

"Andromeda, what now?" Daveth whispered, looking to her for direction,

"Andromeda?" Lea whimpered, barely holding her pistol level. This was not the retreat the Spectre had envisioned; they were now all that remained of the Legacy. Wanting no more deaths, and these bots hadn't struck them down yet, she sighed and replaced her Black Widow to its back holster,

"Lower your weapons," she ordered, not giving anymore than that as her hands were placed behind her head and she dropped to her knees,

"Fat chance. If we die here, better to be with guns blazing," Graz hissed. Cocking his shotgun, he placed the end of the barrel to a native close by him, only to be struck down by 5 of them a moment later. Lea shrieked as the shots ripped through the young Krogan, his head almost blown off his shoulders. Crumpling, his body fell with a thud before them, blood pooling around him,

"Lower weapons, now," Andromeda couldn't bring herself to look at the poor Krogan but was glad to hear her remaining team secure their weapons. Lea and Alyssa knelt beside her while Daveth and Hunter knelt behind her. The robots kept their weapons raised while others approached, but before they could react the bots produced electrical probs and struck each of them. Falling in a dead feint, the bots then moved to collect each and every one of them. Andromeda was barely conscious as they began piling the dead into a cruiser, moving to each of them before everything went black.

* * *

None of them knew how much time had passed since they were subsequently rendered unconscious. Daveth was the first to awake, groaning from the stinging left by the prod. Looking up he froze at the sight of his exposed hand. Only now he had realised the familiar weight of his armour was gone, as well as his helmet. Jolting upright, he grasped his throat before he realised he could breath normally. Looking around him, finding they were trapped within some kind of containment chamber, the others were also stripped of their armour and leaving them, all of them, in their undergarments.

Getting his bearings, he stubbled to the others and tried to rouse them. Immediately he went to Lea, thankful she had been wearing something under her suit, and tried to wake her up. Hunter soon followed, coming to help Daveth wake the others; Alyssa awoke from Hunter's shaking while Andromeda took slightly longer. Without armour and weapons, many of them felt defenceless,

"Great. Captured by the enemy," Alyssa hissed, turning to Andromeda, "Some Spectre, thought you guys were meant to be the best," Andromeda ignored her while trying to think of a plan. Daveth however supported her,

"What would you have us do then? Become overwhelmed and killed with the others?" he demanded, "Look how great that looked for Graz!" Lea, slightly embarrassed by her lack of covering – a simple white slip and matching shorts, came up in the hopes of calming the turian officer,

"We could've taken them! Ripped them apart!" Alyssa hissed back, "Better to be dead then to be some sick experiment!"

"Enough!" Andromeda snapped, causing pause from the both of them, "We are not going to die here. You may not agree on the means but bickering and fighting amongst ourselves will not help in the least," turning to Alyssa, she firmly grabbed her shoulders. She was angry, yes, but there was also fear, "I know you're scared. But we have to trust each other."

"But…my team is gone. I barely know any of you, what do I have to lose and I am not going out as someone's pet project," she hissed, fighting back the scared tears threatening to break through her resolve,

"I know. We're not getting out of here without scars but we are getting out of here alive," Andromeda nodded, looking the scared asari in the eye, "We're a team now, and we need to work together," she didn't get a chance to continue as a loud whoosh echoed through the room. Looking to the door, the group watched as 4 unique bots walked in. They were unique for the fact they all looked different, rather than identical as the others had been. Looking to each one, it was easy to pick out which one the leader was. Holding himself with supreme authority, his plating was brilliant silver, accompanied with red and purple accents. His optics blazed a heated red as he looked over each of them,

"Shockwave, what have you discovered from these organics?" he asked, coming as a surprise as he appeared to be speaking clear English,

"How are we understanding them?" Daveth questioned,

"_It appears these Synthetic automatons have developed highly acute and complex linguistic algorithms, capable of instantaneous understanding and practise of any new language,_" Hunter explained, catching their audience's attention,

"They don't appear as unintelligent as you predicted, Shockwave," one replied. His frame was slim compared to the others, more aerodynamic in a sense. Long wings flittered on his back much like a cat flicking its tail. Standing closer to the containment field, his ruby optics spied Alyssa, a smirk growing on his faceplates as stared at her,

"Take a picture it'll last long, creep!" Alyssa hissed, her biotics flaring while her threat went unheeded,

"I just might," he smirked, only to be punched by their leader,

"They are not here for your amusement, Starscream," his hissed, growling as he returned his gaze to the one dubbed Shockwave. He, unlike the last 2, had no face to speak of, just a single optics much like a Geth though lacking the same shape. "What have you discovered, Shockwave,"

"Through the autopsies and tests I have completed on the deceased Lord Megatron, I have found their basic genetic construction shows significant diversity, as well as their appearances would apply, there is also a certain amount of alteration," as Shockwave spoke, his single optics flashed as if to simulate a moving mouth. However, that small fact was not what had caught their attentions,

"Have you no respect for the dead!" Alyssa snapped, growling at their audacity,

"You can't just go around chopping up people!" Lea snapped, offended by such disregard. The bots didn't react to their heated anger with much interest; rather they found it amusing. The leader, Megatron, approached the containment field smirking at its trapped occupants,

"And what position are any of you in stop us, let alone command," he demanded, a rage they didn't see before coming through in droves, "You are all trespassers on my world, be thankful you were not slaughters with the rest!"

"We had no choice!" Andromeda argued, "We merely came to this sector of space for the sake of discovery and were caught in the crossfire in this planet's orbit!" she glared straight back at the taller mech, "Had we the chance we would leave and never come back,"

"None leave this world unless I say so," he hissed, "Alien you may be but here, on Cybertron, my word is law!" Megatron glared back at Andromeda, and she all but obliged returning the glare in kind,

"And what does putting us in this cage accomplish?" Daveth demanded, all of them ganging together in the hopes numbers would pull an answer,

"Besides the live test subjects you may become," Megatron smirked, looking to each of them, "Entertainment perhaps, my men have been lacking in moral. Or maybe even information on your home planets," that brought horror to them all, "Such diverse life must have worlds to sustain them. Worlds with rich energy ripe for the taking,"

"_Plan impossible. Lacking a means of FTL travel as well as means for crossing vast distances in less time, we detect you have no means of doing so without cyro stasis. Travel between this planet and core systems would take centuries, if not longer_," Hunter added, giving a small ray of hope, but left nothing to be given,

"Ha! We have lived longer than mere centuries," the mech chuckled, "Time is no issue," moving back to the cage, he scanned each one of them before his optics fell on Andromeda, "And you, no doubt the leader. Since you seem so willing to defy your betters, you shall be the start of our entertainment," turning back to Shockwave, the Cyclops mech moved to a terminal and began inputting protocols. The whirring of machinery revealed Andromeda's armour, sealed in a storage compartment, being placed into the containment field,

"And what if I refuse?" Andromeda asked, watching Megatron and eyeing his subordinates,

"Then one of the others will suffice. It matters not since all of you will share the same fate," Megatron hissed, impatient that she was still remaining defiant.

"Perhaps the blue one then, My Lord," Starscream snickered, "She might prove more entertaining," reaching through the containment field, it soon became apparent that the field was merely maintaining a viable atmosphere, but they could move between the field with ease…at least if one is metallic. Taking the opportunity to show her merit, and to exact a little revenge, Alyssa's body licked and flickered with biotic energy. So close to her target, a powerful warp easily ripped through the mech's white plating, almost severing his arm. Howling in pain, he retracted his arm and glared back at the cage, "You slagging little!" raising his other arm, they watched in surprise and shock as his remaining appendage shifted into the form of a gun, and aimed at Alyssa. Andromeda stepped forward, her own biotics flaring, but stopped as Megatron blasted Starscream clear across the room.

"Shockwave. Soundwave. Explain," Megatron hissed, glaring at Starscream while repair drones tended to his injury,

"_Scans indicate the 2 subjects show the ability to manipulate Energon. Further scans indicate they are able to generate energon at will_," Soundwave droned out; his voice module fluxed much like a geth's would but what was this energon he was taking about?

"Energon? What the heck are you talking about?" Alyssa demanded, "That was a Biotic warp, and there is more where that came from," asserting her threat, she conjured another Warp in her hand,

"Cool it Alyssa," Andromeda whispered, there was no need to start something as of yet, not without a plan,

"Well you organics just keep getting interesting," Megatron smirked, directing Shockwave to continue moving Andromeda'a armour into the cell, "It will certainly make things more entertaining," pointing to her armour Andromeda understood. Even at the protest of the others, she easily slipped back into the familiar grip of her Armax Arsenal set. She was a little concerned her weapons were still missing; Shockwave seemed to pick up on her concern,

"Your weapons have been taken for study. You won't be needing them where you're going," he simply stated, more engrossed with scans and trying to make sense of this Energon thing they had mentioned. Unable to question any further, Megatron and Soundwave pushed her down another corridor with Starscream joining them after he was patched up.

"Now then, let's begin the procedures," Shockwave suddenly approached the containment field, walking through the shield and grabbed Hunter, "Let's begin with the easiest subject," ignoring the pleas and attempts from the others, he walked right back out and left the lab. Ordering 2 other generic robots to guard them, leaving them in silence. Unbeknownst to them, salvation was close at hand.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

* * *

Andromeda remained silent as she was forced to follow Megatron through this hellhole. More times than she could count had numerous prisoners stared and questioned what she was. But not left the time to ponder just what Megatron had intended for her, her musing were answered in a bellowing roar. Hundreds of Robots lined stands like some kind of subterranean arena…that's what it was. A huge arena painted with strange fluids and rusting body parts.

Turning to Megatron to question his reasoning for all of this, she only just managed to block the brunt of his swift kick. Flying over the edge and landing in the middle of the arena, Andromeda groaned from the impact. The resounding roar of the crowd intensified as she collected herself, looking back up to see Megatron sit upon a throne with Soundwave and Starscream at his flanks.

"My Loyal Decepticons! I bring you, Entertainment!" his almost cheerful cry egged his men on, "A little exotic organic creature from beyond this sector of space. Once Cybertron has been returned to its true glory, then her world shall follow!" Andromeda was going to have none of this,

"Why are you doing this?!" she cried back, "We are no threat to you?!"

"The weak perish while the strong thrive!" Megatron yelled, a wave of his servos ringing the arrival of her challenger. A brute of a mech, much taller than herself wielding a heavy weapon, "We shall see which side is yours."

Thinking fast, Andromeda dodged the brute's swing, barely missing his second attack. More than once she tried to convince her attacker this was not worth the fight, but he just laughed like the others and continued attacking. Sparing a glance to Megatron, he was enjoying this slaughter too. She wasn't going to have any more of this escapade. Thrown back by a missed strike, she stood her ground,

"Fine, you want blood," her anger fuelled her biotics, licking and flicking around her like flames. "I'll give you BLOOD!" though not trained like an Adept or even a Vanguard, she still found natural proficiency in her Biotics. Fuelling as much energy as she could into her arms, she shot out a biotic pulse at the brute. The shot unaffected by his block suddenly shot him into the air. All looked on in surprise, as she seemed to hold him up with nothing but energy and will, before she slammed her arms down hard. The resulting move caused the mech to fall with unimaginable force. Once the dust cloud settled, the brute was very much dead, squashed under the force of Andromeda's Biotic slam. Glaring at Megatron, she was pleased to see his shocked expression at the sight of her kill. "Send your sheep to slaughter you pompous piece of SHIT!" she yelled, causing Megatron to look straight at her, "I'll kill all you send! Is that entertaining enough for you? Mother FUCKER!" Megatron's surprise turned to unbridled rage as he summoned the next wave. Andromeda looked on, praying she had the strength to hold out long enough to help her team.

* * *

Sitting in their cell was not something Daveth, Lea or Alyssa wanted to do. Andromeda might've been already dead and they were going to be next.

"So much for survival," Alyssa sighed, lying on her back and staring at the generated field, "Who do you think will be next?"

"Shut up Alyssa," Daveth snapped, not liking the situation any more than she did,

"Sorry, I'm just sick of this silence," Alyssa muttered, sitting up she pulled her legs closer and just sat, "Do you really think we're going to get home?" her curiosity getting the better of her, and she knew the others were thinking the same thing,

"We got to," Lea piped in, worried over Andromeda and Hunter along with themselves. She didn't want to die here; she longed to see Rannoch and the flotilla again, "But…what do you think Captain Coyle got from all of this?" Lea looked to the others, only to find anger and hate,

"No doubt retelling some shit story about how he tried to save everyone but because of us only he survived," Alyssa hissed,

"How he survived adversity and with a single shuttle managed to return to civilization," Daveth added, sharing a chuckle with Alyssa,

"I guess we finally agree on something," he snickered. Alyssa nodded but turned back to stare at the guards. Some generic models but could be mistaken for statues by the way they just stood there. It was very tempting to try and coax a reaction from them just to beat the boredom but a sudden crash pushed the thought aside.

The guards were in a flurry until something large and red landed on top of them. Surprised, the others jumped to their feet to see this new being. He stood slightly taller than the mechs, matching Daveth's height. Bright red and black armour almost melted into the dark room. As if not noticing them, he called out in his native tongue to somewhere above him, followed by 2 more shapes. One was smaller than the red mech and one much larger than the both of them. The three watched as the new mechs, somehow different to their guards, began looking around the room, the smaller yellow mechs spotted them.

"Why are they talking like that?" Lea asked, a little nervous from the looks the 3 new mechs were giving them, "I though Hunter said they had complex linguistic algorithms,"

"Either they don't want us to understand…or they aren't like the others," Daveth realised these mechs were in fact different from the others. Unlike Megatron and his soldiers, these mechs weren't as intimidating. They seemed to have a more calming aura, rather than the frightful feeling Megatron exuded. That and the fact these mechs bore a different symbol; a red face rather than the pointed symbol.

"Maybe they're a different faction, we did see some of the others fighting each other," Alyssa added, seeing the same thing Daveth did. Feeling he was responsible, Daveth approached the barrier and stood face to face with the mechs,

"Please, can you understand us?" Daveth watched as the mechs looked to one another until the leader, the tall red and blue mech, approached,

"We do," the mech nodded, "Tell us, what are you and why are you in Shockwave's lab?" he asked, genuinely concerned. His optics were dimed as if to simulate such concern,

"We were part of an exploratory mission through a dormant relay, a relay that brought us into this planet's orbit," Daveth explained, but the red and black mech jumped in,

"Optimus, that must've been the huge blue explosion over Iacon," he jumped, looking to Daveth with amazement,

"Yes, our ship's Eezo core went critical from the bludgeoning we sustained from re-entry and the firefight we stumbled into," Daveth confirmed, "Our team tried to find and collect all of the survivors but most were found dead. We later discovered our late Captain was the reason, leaving us all for dead while he escaped in our last shuttle," his anger was evident in his retelling, the mechs watching with interest and concern, "Our leader, Spectre Connors, tried to defend us all…but we are all that is left,"

"Is this Spectre Connors no more?" Optimus asked,

"No, that Megatron mech took her for 'entertainment'. She's been gone the last few hours," Daveth explained, Alyssa and Lea approaching them. Optimus' optics widened at the diversity of these alien creatures,

"That must be why there hasn't been a lot of cons on duty," the smallest mech stated, "They must all be watching whatever bloodsport Megatron set up,"

"Bloodsport?!" Lea gasped, her mind now thinking of the worst, "We have to help Andy!" she panicked, calming when Daveth placed a taloned hand on her shoulder in the hopes of calming her. Alyssa then approached the mechs, taking Daveth's place,

"Please, can you help us get out of here?" Alyssa asked, looking Optimus right in the optics,

"Why not just step out of there?" the red and black mech questioned, "It's just a simple energy field, anyone can pass through it," his smile drooped when Alyssa glared back,

"Perhaps, but we can't survive in your atmosphere," Alyssa explained, pulling up the planetary scan results, "Your planet has little to no oxygen in the air, stepping out of this field we'll be unconscious in a under a minute, and dead in a matter of minutes. We need our combat suits and breathers, that Shockwave creep put them in storage somewhere in this room," Nodding, Optimus ordered the others – Bumblebee and Sideswipe – to search the room for their armour.

"Is there anyone else in your group?" Optimus asked, monitoring the generated atmosphere of their cell,

"Just Hunter, our Geth infiltrator unit. Shockwave took him somewhere after Megatron took Andy," Lea answered, "I just hope he got away,"

"We will find your friends," Optimus nodded, his blue optics gazed reassuringly on the young Quarian, smiling at his sincerity. Bumblebee and Sideswipe called out after finding their stored gear, pushing it through the field and watched as they geared up,

"By the Goddess, it feels good having my weapons back," Alyssa smirked, cocking her shotgun and making sure it was in good condition,

"I'm just glad to have my enviro-suit back," Lea added, padding herself down to ensure all clamps and connections were hooked properly. Moving to her weapons, she blushed and turned away from Daveth as he secured his own armour.

"We'll have to carry Andromeda's weapons until we can find her," Daveth announced, pulling out the N7 grade gear from the capsule, handing what the others could manage before securing Andromeda's Black Widow to his back. Once their helmets and breathers were connected and in place, the 3 stepped through the field; marvelling at the size of their rescuers. Optimus, being the tallest, towered over them; Daveth only reached his cheat plates while he matched Sideswipe in height. Bumblebee was the smallest and was probably the same size as Andromeda.

"Where did Shockwave take this Geth you mentioned? We will head for him first," Optimus asked,

"He might have the location of Sentinel Zeta Prime too," Bumblebee added, receiving a nod from his commanding officer,

"Down the passage, behind where you…dropped in," Daveth pointed to the door the guards were standing before, but before they could go through their comms sprung to life,

"_Rescue unnecessary, Quademus-Lieutenant. We have already made our escape and silenced the mech, designation Shockwave, from sounding station wide alarm._," Lea was relieved to hear Hunter speak, gladdened he was okay, "_We are making our way back to you, taking out resistance we encounter_,"

"Belay that Hunter," Daveth ordered, surprising Alyssa and Lea, "Lock onto Andromeda's signal and head for her, we'll meet you there. But don't engage any mechs you find, just get to Andromeda and report on her status,"

"_Acknowledge. Altering course_," Hunter replied before the comm when dark. Turing back to Optimus, they headed out.

"But Optimus, can we really afford straying off to help them?" Sideswipe asked, "We gotta save the other Autobots trapped here,"

"Maybe we can help with that!" Lea smiled, opening the commlink to Hunter, "Hunter, can you hack into this stations security systems and initiate a station-wide Prison Break?" she asked, running to keep up with Daveth and Bumblebee,

"_Stand By…Operation Complete, we are now integrated into the Prison Security protocols. Initiating release procedures_," the sounds of cell doors opened and containment fields powering down was great news to the small Autobot team, "_Reactivating weapons systems. Prisoners are now capable of defending themselves_,"

"Thank you Hunter, we greatly appreciate your assistance," Optimus joined the commlink after a quick scan of the frequency. He had caught Hunter by surprise but since he was with Lea, Hunter assumed he was a friendly,

"_No need for thanks. We were simply operating as directed_," Hunter replied, before going silent. Optimus looked a little confused before looking back to Lea,

"Geth are still developing their AI, what they lack in a personality they make up in processing power and advanced Cyber warfare," Lea explained, stopping close to Daveth as they watched as other bots like Optimus and his team storm out of their cells and take out the guards on duty, "But we need to hurry, who knows how long Andy can hold out,"

"If she isn't already terminated," Sideswipe jumped in, ignoring the glare shot at him by Bumblebee, Alyssa and Daveth, "What? How is a little organic like them going to beat one of us?" it was a fair enough questions, considering they were made of metal and capable of who knows what kind of damage.

"If Andy can take out a Thresher Maw, then she can handle herself," Daveth snapped back,

"A what?" Bumblebee asked, though not liking the name of such a thing,

"Giant, man eating worm," Lea explained, "Maybe 3 times as tall as this prison with a ravenous appetite. It could easily swallow any of you whole,"

"We also have to find Sentinel Zeta Prime! He's the reason we came here!" Sideswipe added, looking back to Optimus. This caused the leader to pause, turning to Daveth and the others,

"We cannot abandon our mission, but I refuse to allow Megatron to take the life of one not apart of this war," Optimus stated, looking over to the free prisoners, one of them caught his optics, "Jazz!" the smaller white and blue bot, slightly taller than Bumblebee stopped and looked to the leader, smiling as he approached,

"Optimus! Had a feelin' you were apart of this breakout," Jazz smiled. Daveth and Alyssa were surprised they could understand him before Lea whispered that, thanks to Bumblebee, he aided in updating their universal translator to understand their language.

"I am glad you are safe my friend, but are you combat ready?" Optimus asked, spying another bot, one that resembled a female more than the bulky mechs the team had seen, run up to him,

"Sure am Optimus, what do ya need?" Jazz asked, it was astounding that once translated this new mech spoke with such inflection. Daveth recalled an African-American human speaking in the same manner, stranger for it to be coming from an Alien robot.

"Take Arcee and head for these co-ordinates, an Ally is in danger and needs a swift extraction," Optimus explained, showing the 2 new bots to the others. Jazz looked in marvel at their organic comrades,

"Shoot, that's Megatron sick little Gladiator pit. Heard from the Guards some organic alien was bring a beat done on the Cons sent in," Jazz added, turning to Arcee, "Come on 'Cee, we got a job ta do,"

"Right, lets go!" Arcee turned to follow but a small hand grabbed hers. Looking back she was surprised to see Lea trying to fit through the bars. Successfully managing she stood before the pair,

"I'm going too, Andy may need a medic," Lea stated, not unaware of Daveth's disagreement, but he knew she was right and allowed her to go with them. Watching as they ran off, Daveth caught up with the others to offer support. The faster they get to this Sentinel bot the sooner they can meet up with Hunter, Lea and Andromeda.

* * *

Andromeda felt about ready to drop from the wave after wave of enemies Megatron sent into the arena. Her biotics were taking their toll on her and her tech powers were overworked to the max. She was quite proud of the look on Megatron's face when she snap froze one of his brutes, smashing him to bits with his own hammer.

Her latest challenger twitched and writhed as her overload ripped through his systems, ending his torment with a weak slam. Splattering his helm across ground from its force. Getting her pained breathing under control, she relaxed her dislocated shoulder before snapping it back into place. Her suit was already pooling with medi-gel – healing any and all internal injuries along with reducing her pains significantly. Sighing in relief that her arm was no longer hampering her, she turned to Megatron.

The angered and annoyed scowl crossing his faceplates was enough to tell her he was not happy about the outcome. Whether it was her progress or that she defeated his soldiers she wasn't sure. Right now she was just worried about whom he would send next.

"Incompetence," Megatron hissed, turning to Soundwave, "Go," was all he uttered before Soundwave jumped into the pit. To Andromeda's surprise the entire stadium fell quiet the moment Soundwave dropped. Something was up and she just couldn't see it.

Though she didn't have time to try and make sense of anything as Soundwave moved faster than she anticipated. Striking hard with his arm outstretched, the result being she was thrown clear across the arena. Slammed into the opposite wall, she had only just found her feet before Soundwave slammed her again. Luckily with the medi-gel working on her injuries, it was cushioning his strikes though not breaking anything, it would definitely bruise.

Gasping a breath, something strange slithered up her leg. Looking down she froze at the sight of a mechanical tentacle wrapped firmly around her leg. With a swift snap, Soundwave had flung her like a ragdoll to the middle of the arena. A sudden uproar echoed all around her as she tried to get her bearings, but she was instantly hoisted into the air as another mechanical tentacle joined its twin. Tightening their grip, one of the probing tips somehow connected with her suits systems; struggling a new at the thought of him turning her oxygen systems. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

The probing node had delved into her medi-gel delivery systems, initiating a complete suit vent. The sudden rush of the gel could've been mistaken for being crushed or injured, though it certainly felt like it. The moment Andromeda's body began to react to the vent, sharp and ripping jolts of pain shot through every fibre of her being. Her wounds and injuries reignited as the scream of agony racked her frame. Her voice was almost hoarse by the time her body grew numb from the adrenaline rush the pain triggered. She jolted and quaked in Soundwave's grip, unrelenting as he held her up for all to see. Just on the cusp of consciousness, she could've sworn she heard…purring? Maybe Soundwave compromised one of her suit's cooling fans.

Sagging in his grip, Soundwave lowered her to the ground but never releasing his grip and ensured she remained upright. Andromeda slowly raised her helm, glaring at Megatron, his scowl replaced with a satisfied smirk. He leered down from his throne, like some self-righteous emperor inspecting his warriors after battle. Andromeda only caught glimpses of him while she fought off his mechs, remaining indifferent toward the battles, if not angered by her progress, but she could see in his optics, as if they were organic eyes, that he was enraged as well as intrigued.

"I must say little human," Megatron drawled, having learned what she was during a rather heated fight with a brute, "You have faired better than I gave you credit for. But your organic form would prove to be your downfall,"

"So…what now? You going to kill me?" she demanded, managing to incline her head to show she was looking at him despite the painful ache rushing through her body. His snicker did nothing to put her at ease,

"Perhaps, but why kill one who shows potential," Megatron smirked, pulling more concern from Andromeda's mind, "Shockwave was most interested in these 'Biotics' both you and the blue femme exhibited. But since you are far more valuable as a combatant than a test subject, here is where you shall stay," Andromeda's eyes widened at the thought of Alyssa or anyone on her remaining team being experimented on,

"No! Don't touch them!" she snapped, a renewed drive renewed her struggles before the Decepticons and their Master, "Do whatever you want with me but leave them alone!"

"How considerate. But such martyrdom is wasted here," Megatron snickered, leaning forward on his throne, "If you take their places, then they will be disposed of. No sense keeping something that has no use to me," the horror on her face was, thankfully, concealed to the bots surrounding her, no matter what she did she couldn't save her team - dare she say her friends. Truly defeated, she slumped in Soundwave's hold and showing all she had finally lost.

Suddenly, a shot rang out. Soundwave emitted a shrill shriek and his hold on Andromeda slacked. Falling to her knees, she looked back to catch another shot pierced through his chassis and probes. As he stumbled away, and all focus scattered to find the mystery shooter, a strange white and blue mech dropped from the ceiling,

"Come on, we gotta book it," Andromeda was surprised by the bot's appearance, she didn't react as he grabbed her and pulled them both back into the ceiling vent.

"Autobot! Stop them!" Megatron roared, but the bellow was deafened as the mech pushed Andromeda further into the vent. Before she could curse at this mysterious mech she was handed over to the awaiting Lea.

"Lea? You're okay!" Andromeda wrapped her arms around the smaller Quarian, wincing when a jolt of pain snapped through her again,

"Yes, so are the others," she smiled, returning the hug before turning to injecting medi-gel into her suit. Once the cooling numbness took effect, Andromeda was able to move about freely again. Getting to her feet, Andromeda heard movement from one of the other vents. Taking her pistol back from Lea, they took aim before seeing Hunter climb through, "Hunter!" Lea smiled,

"_We are glad to be of assistance, Creator Lea'Haren_," Hunter nodded, turning to Andromeda, "_Spectre, our distraction will not last, we advise immediate evacuation_,"

"I agree with the flashlight, let's move it," the mech pointed the direction out, the female looking bot leading the way as he took the rear. Andromeda was still confused as to why these bots were helping them when only 5 minutes before she was ripping them apart.

"We'll explain everything later," Lea explained, seeing the confused look on Andromeda's face, "Right now, these guys are our allies and they want to help us," she smiled. Andromeda trusted her team and said nothing else as they ran through the chaotic corridors.

"Optimus, we have the package, did you find Sentinel Zeta Prime?" the femme, Arcee, called over the weapons fire,

"_Yes, but we were too late. Sentinel Prime is offline,_" Optimus replied, his tone mournful and full of regret, "_We are heading to these co-ordinates, but the transport can't hold its position for long, you need to get there within the next breem_," she could hear the battle in the background, the Decepticons were now aware of the Prison break and trying to contain the escapees,

"We'll be there Optimus, Arcee out," closing the comms, Arcee and Jazz gave the others cover fire as they cleared the room. Moving through the corridors, many other Autobots and detainees joined up as they headed for the transport. Andromeda was running low on thermal clips as were Lea and Hunter. But now they had reached the final chamber, the open doors showing the shuttle awaiting them. Those who couldn't fight ran for it, while the others laid down cover.

"_Spectre! The enemy has overridden our hacking attempts! They mean to seal us in and surround us!_" unfortunately, Hunter's warning came late as the door began to close,

"We gotta make a mad dash! Let's move!" Jazz called, pulling Lea and Andromeda back toward the doors, running behind them.

Disaster struck as a shot flew past Andromeda. But the shot was much larger than a normal round, like a disc, which cleanly sliced Lea's left arm clean off. The shock and pain from losing a limb caused her to collapse.

"MEDIC DOWN!" Andromeda screamed, pulling Lea to cover as she tried to stop the bleeding. But she was no medic and it she didn't do something fast, Lea would die. No, not on her watch! Taking her heated pistol, popping the heat sink, saying a quick apology before she pressed the clip to Lea's arm. Holding her as she screamed in agony, she managed to cauterise the wound and stop the bleeding.

"_Spectre! We must leave now!_" Hunter called again, covering them as Andromeda managed to fasten Lea to her back, having passed out from the pain, and retrieve her limb. Intensifying her shields, Andromeda had bought enough time to reach Hunter and the others before they gave out. Making it through the doors, Andromeda looked back to see Hunter was still shooting,

"Hunter! Come on!" she called, but the Geth simply looked back,

"_Our function is to protect. We will hold them off until you, Creator-Lea'Haren and the team are safe_," Hunter replied, moving to his left arm and, to Andromeda's horror, ripped the limp from his frame, "_Creator-Lea'Haren will require a replacement…I will be at ease if I can provide her with my own_," he threw the arm to Andromeda just as the door closed, concealing his fate to her and the others,

"ANDY! WE GOTTA GO!" she heard Daveth cry, cursing herself she grabbed the limb and dashed to the transports. Helped on by Daveth and Alyssa, the other mechs on-board gave them room to help their friend. Accessing Lea's omni-tool they found the proper procedure for replacing her arm.

Optimus looked on in dismay as Andromeda, Alyssa and Daveth feverishly worked on their companion. He could tell from her shaking hands and twitching body language that Andromeda was not taking this well; her companions seemingly coping better. He watched as Daveth and Andromeda conducted the procedure while Alyssa monitored Lea's life signs. Erratic but in the clear, they managed to attach the robotic limb before applying large quantities of a strange gel-like substance onto the effected site, sealing her suit as well.

Free from the Kaon Prison, he just dreaded what would come next. These visiting aliens were now caught in their conflict, one millennia in the making with no sign of ceasing. Optimus dared not approach them as they tended to their teammate, there would be time to talk back at HQ.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

* * *

_Personal Log. Earth Calender: May 15__th__, 2287_

_It's been…7 days since we landed on this planet. Cybertron the natives call it. It's a giant, mechanical city planet who, apparently, have been at war for Millennia. There has been no sign or recording of any Reaper invasions here except maybe a strange and sketchy attack by 'Quintessons' or something like that. Their leader, Optimus Prime, just returned from a journey from the Planet's core, a place where their chief divinity or creator lies and…_

_God why am I doing this? So stupid recording all of this when no one will hear it. The crew of the Legacy are dead. The man responsible for most of them has fled to no doubt tell everyone he's some fucking hero. Half my team is dead. Lea lost her arm and Hunter sacrificed himself to save us…what kind of leader am I? Letting my team die like that. It should've been me. I should've handed Lea to him and covered them._

_I'm such a joke, some Spectre I turned out to be._

_-END RECODING-_

* * *

Lea had awoken the day before to find out what Hunter had done for her. Now, with the help of Chief Medic Ratchet, she was testing and calibrating her new limb. But she was becoming distracted as she watched Andromeda. For the past 3 days she had been staring out of the observation window over the Iacon plaza. She only caught part of her journal entry and couldn't help but wish to aid her,

"So, what is the story behind your leader?" Ratchet asked, pulling her attention back. He spoke freely, thinking Andromeda was too engrossed in her thoughts to hear him.

"Andromeda is a Council Spectre – Special Tactic and Reconnaissance," Lea began,

"Only the best and the brightest of the council races can join. She's the 5th Human Spectre to be inducted,"

"Is that why she tries so hard?" Ratchet asked, receiving a glare from his patient,

"I only say as such since she reminds me a lot of Optimus when he was given command. He felt responsible for everyone's safety, giving himself the burden if something went array or bots dying under his command," he explained, tweaking a loose wire,

"Since the Reaper Wars, the Alliance became more selective in their Spectre candidates. If they didn't reach a certain standard, they wouldn't bother," Lea explained,

"They search for the same qualities as Commander Jayne Shepard,"

"Is she a prominent figure then?" Ratchet watched as Lea tested her arm. Her recovered Omni-tool had been integrated into the synthetic limb and moved as fluidly as a normal limb,

"Commander Shepard single-handedly cured the Krogan Genophage, brokered alliances between waring species, ended the Morning war between my people and Hunter's people," thinking on her Geth comrade, Lea touched her donated limb,

"And brought peace no one thought possible. Along with ending the Reaper war and the harvest cycles once and for all…she's a hard figure to live up to,"

"Then I can't see why Andromeda would be so…distressed," Ratchet stated, helping Lea down from the Medical berth. Coming to his chest, it was still a high step for her,

"If she shows these same desired qualities, why does she burden herself so willingly?"

"It's not just the qualities," Lea replied, looking to Andromeda with sad eyes,

"She's expected to be like Commander Shepard in everything she does. Or at least that is the rumours going around council space. I haven't worked with Andy before this mission, but I can tell she is passionate about the Alliance, despite how it pushes and pushes their Spectres to be exactly like Shepard," she sighed, flexing her new arm,

"They refuse to see how it effects them," Ratchet looked to the human in question, seeing just what Lea was explaining. Since his medbay was treated with a contained atmosphere they could breath while here. He could see Andromeda's exposed face and how the stress of leadership was taking its toll. He left their discussion at that, but made a note for Optimus to speak with Andromeda regardless.

Ratchet was pulled from his thoughts when Daveth and Alyssa stepped in. Sighing as they removed their helmets, Daveth immediately approached Lea,

"How are you feeling? Everything alright?" Daveth fussed over Lea a lot lately, having been noticed by the others. He didn't seem to take notice, nor noticing Lea's blooming face,

"Yes, I'm fine," Lea replied, sheepishly smiling back at Daveth. She turned to watch Alyssa move over to Andromeda, handing her a datapad,

"What's going on?" she asked,

"Optimus and a small team have gone to the crash site of that Trypticon base," Daveth explained, turning to Ratchet, "That's why we're here,"

"Right," Ratchet nodded, moving out of the medbay, "Lea'Haren you are to remain here in the medbay until I return, there are still a few tests I would like to run before you a discharged," and without another word the Autobot medic was out the door, leaving the small team to their own devices.

"This is the full report?" Andromeda asked, pulling Daveth and Lea's attention to her,

"Yep. The autobots that found the Legacy were lucky enough to salvage the bluebox. I'm no tech-y but it was easy enough to access…we're all that's left for sure," Alyssa replied, Andromeda sat skimming through the list of crewmen, engineers and marines stationed on the Legacy, staggered by the sheer number of lost.

"Thank you Alyssa," Andromeda whispered, sitting back on her seat. "Once Optimus Prime returns we can measures to aiding their forces," the others stared as her as she turned back to her seat, staring out of the window again,

"Come on, lets leave her a moment," Lea stated, but paused when Andromeda stood,

"No, I'll go," Andromeda stated, smiling to the others, "I wouldn't want you getting in trouble with their CMO because of me," collecting her Mnemonic visor and fastened it into place. Activating the callaspable recon hood, she made her way out of the medbay, stopped as she paced Alyssa; the young Justicar's hand grabbing her arm.

"It's sad to lose everyone. But it wasn't your fault. You saved them from dying on the Legacy. You can't help the dead, but you can lead us," Alyssa stated, unsure if Andromeda took heed, she simply sighed before letting her go.

Andromeda remained silent as she walked out of the contained atmosphere and into the base. Walking through, she observed and watched as the other mechs went about their business – ranking bots ordering lower bots to complete tasks in order to fortify their position. Others, such as engineers and construction bots moved about like a bee hive to complete building this 'Ark' a large carrier meant to take the last remaining Autobots off world. She only hoped Optimus would extend her team the opportunity to leave.

For the longest time, she reflected once again on the events that had occurred in the last few days. So many had died for this mission, and she couldn't prevent their deaths. Sure she saved them from falling with the ship, but she knew Coyle. She could've prevented his actions by simply reprimanding him before the mission; maybe been more forward with the council to convince them to resined their decision to granting him command. It all seems so meaningless now. They were good people and they didn't deserve this.

So tied up in her thoughts, Andromeda didn't see the 3 bots approaching her and thus resulted in a collision,

"Ow," she hissed, holding her head. Looking up, she froze at the sight of the bot she bumped. She had been introduced to only a handful of the Autobots in the building; this one was not one of them. He was perhaps as tall as Soundwave was, she only reaching his chest plate from her height. Coloured red and gold, silver underlying his primary colours, it almost seemed strange at how similar he looked to Soundwave – no doubt they came from the same model. This mech, however, didn't have the same helm as Soundwave – he had what resembled inverted horns instead of receptors as well as a sort of mask over his optics. Like an angled masquerade mask.

"Woah there, careful ma flighty sista," the mech smiled, helping her to her feet. His voice was certainly different to the other Autobots she came across; similar to the Decepticon twin, his voice seemed coded and more robots than the others.

"Flighty sister?" Andromeda asked, confused by the strange title. Turning away from the new mech, she did recognise one of the other mechs, "Jazz, right?"

"Sure is," he smiled, "Glad to see ya finally decided ta leave the medbay, how's ya lil'friend? Heard bout her arm, nasty," Jazz asked, unlike his red friend, his voice held sincerity,

"Lea is fine, and thank you for coming to help me," despite her face being covered, Andromeda still smiled in gratitude, holding out her hand to the white bot, who gladly returned it,

"Ahem!" the third bot coughed. His armour was a deep crimson, and Andromeda couldn't help but see a startling resemblance to the small mech, Bumblebee. Though this mech had more pronounced horns than the little mech as well as a more bulky frame,

"Ya ya, don't get yo gears in a twist!" Jazz snickered, "Andy, this here is Blaster and Cliffjumper, 2 of the best Autobots ya'll eva meet 'ere," pointing to each mech as he named them, Cliffjumper was the first of them to offer his hand, "Guys, this here is Andromeda…uh, something bout being a Spectre?" Jazz questioned, already forgetting her own introduction a few days ago,

"Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Officer – Spectre for short," Andromeda saluted,

"Hey quiet with the formality, Andy," Blaster smiled, walking up to Andromeda, "No need for all that 'mong friends," she knew he was only trying to be friendly but no soldier she knew, any good one at least, was this laid back,

"That may be, but I was under the assumption this world was at war," she tried not to sound too harsh, but it was still blunt, taking Blaster aback, "As appreciated as this introduction was, I was in fact on my way to speak with Optimus Prime, or the next available commanding officer,"

"You'd want Prowler or Magnus then," Jazz replied, not too surprised by her reply, "You can find'em in the main command centre, down this hall on your right,"

"Thank you," Andromeda paused, as if to say more as she looked to Blaster and Cliffjumper, but she simply nodded and walked in the direction given,

"What the heck was that about?" Cliffjumper asked, looking to the other mechs, "Are all the organics that…ridged?"

"Nah, but she is there leader," Jazz explained,

"Wonder what they look like under the helmet," Cliffjumper added, noticing Blaster wasn't walking with them,

"Can't breath while planet side, something bout Cybertron's atmo bein' toxic. Catch'em in the medbay next time ya go by, which probably be soon by yo record," Jazz joked, but noticed the same thing. Of course, Jazz was a little more observant than Cliffjumper. There was something in the Comm-officer's optics Jazz knew all too well. "I wouldn't be goin' there Blaster," he warned, "Andy probably won't take yo're shenanigans well, Primus knows many a bot don't,"

"Oh ye of little faith my bro," Blaster smirked, "Lil'femme like that needs a pick-me-up _badly_, and I'm the bot for da job!" Jazz just shook his helm, smiling at his friend. Cliffjumper could tell this was going to go south really quick, but didn't say anything as they all headed back to their posts, all the while Blaster was weaving a little plan of his own.

Andromeda had no trouble finding the command centre. Walking inside she could see many bots at their posts, monitoring Decepticon activity and co-ordinating engineers, construction bots and soldiers outside of the base. Standing around a command module were 4 bots; one mech was as tall as Optimus but coloured blue red and white. Another was lightly shorter coloured black and white. The last bot was red, teal and silver, slightly shorter than the last with a strange and deadly looking cannon attached to his shoulder.

This mech turned just as she approached, catching the attention of the other 2. Andromeda took a quick breath to calm her nerves before standing at attention, saluting the 3 mechs,

"Spectre Officer, Andromeda Connors, requesting an audience with Autobot command," she found it almost amusing that she caught these mechs off guard, though 2 of them seemed pleased with her professionalism,

"At ease, Officer," the towering mech stated, again showing his acceptance as she relaxed somewhat but remained at attention, "Commander Optimus Prime informed us of your situation, granting you a level of command while you are under Autobot protection," gesturing her forward, she stood between the stocky mech and his comrade with the large shoulder cannon. "You have the floor officer," but before she could address them, the red and teal mech stepped forward,

"Surely this war has not reduced our capacity for common courteously," his almost British accent came as a surprise to Andromeda, his kind optics turning on her, "We should introduce ourselves before we proceed," seeing as no one else seemed to disagree with him, he began, "I am Perceptor, head of Scientific endeavours and development," he offered his servo while Andromeda more than willing accepted it,

"A pleasure Perceptor," Andromeda smiled, though she was aware that they couldn't see her face,

"Ultra Magnus, 2nd-in-command and this is Prowl, 3rd-in-command," the tallest mech stated, though only sparing a simple nod to her, Prowl included,

"Then you 2 are the 'Magnus' and 'Prowler' Jazz directed me to?" she inquired, though answering wasn't really necessary,

"Indeed, but time is of the essence, what is it you wish to discuss Officer?" Prowl asked, seemingly unfazed by the nickname he had just been given. No doubt Jazz had done something like this before.

"As I am aware, you have been briefed on myself and my team's…situation," seeing as no one objected, Andromeda proceeded, "As much as myself and my team are more than willing to grant aid in your war, we humbly ask if there is any way we can get off world?"

"At present no," Ultra Magnus replied, "After the incident with Tripticon, which has now been pacified, many of our shuttles and ships are being utilized to evacuate Autobots, most of which have been…unsuccessful," Andromeda felt for these mechs, War was hard for any species,

"To add insult to injury, we are running low on Energon as it is, much of our reserves are to be utilised for the Ark once it is completed," Perceptor stepped in, bringing up the schematics for a colossal star cruiser. Energon, she recalled Soundwave and Shockwave making a note of such a substance, believing biotics being the same. Interested, she turned to her hand, watching as her biotics flared and subsequently catching her audience off guard,

"What in the pit?" Ultra Magnus and Prowl jumped, taking a step back. But instead of following the others, Perceptor stepped forward,

"Is…this is Energon!" Perceptor gasped, his scanners a flurry as he recorded as much data as he could,

"Shockwave and Soundwave made mention of Energon," Andromeda trained off, her biotics subsiding, "But we call it Biotics, the manipulation of Element Zero and dark Energy. Both myself and Justicar Alyssa Lantaus have this ability as well as many others within Council Space," watching the other mechs calm, Perceptor showed them his findings,

"Indeed, the substance you produced was indeed energon, though with a few slight difference, it is at least 25.67853 times more potent," Perceptor rambled, displaying his comparative results, "And you say this…Element Zero, is it a widely known chemical?"

"Yes, it's most prominent use is in our mass effect drive cores, powering our ships to enable FTL travel without causing time dilation," Andromeda nodded, "It is a rare material though since its generated when solid mass, like a planet, is effected by energy from a star going supernova," she explained, "Those exposed to this chemical in dust form while in utero, before they are born, are more often going to produce biotic energy and potential in individuals other than the Asari – whom are more attuned to the uses of Biotics than most races,"

"That is a startling as well as fortuitous discovery," Ultra Magnus pondered,

"Considering the background Optimus briefed to us, you would have had to stock such a chemical for your ship, correct?" Prowl asked, looking straight to Andromeda,

"Somewhat, yes," Andromeda answered, "Since the power generated from Eezo when subjected to electrical currents is what creates the mass effect fields necessary for FTL travel, our ships core would not need to be restocked until our mission was complete," Andromeda looked back to the mechs listening intently, "Our ship was destroyed in a firefight up in orbit, no doubt pieces of the ship survived but the drive core ignited from the damage, I doubt it can be salvaged,"

"That may be," Perceptor stepped in, "But if this Eezo survived the landing, we could collect what remains and perhaps integrate its functioning into the Ark, it could compensate for the lack of energon as well as prove useful as a back-up engine," his voice was hopeful to the prospect, "Despite you ship's unfortunate end, would you have schematics for this Drive core you mentioned?"

"I'll alert Lea'Haren to send you the ships specifications, anything we can do to help. I only ask you take us with you when your Exodus occurs. If this is a threat to the galactic community as a whole, it is my duty to warn the council and all council worlds…we have already survived a reaper attack, I doubt we can do so again," Andromeda reflected on the history and retelling of such war, the thought of it happening again was almost sickening,

"And what exactly is a Reaper?" Prowl asked, now curious. Andromeda pulled up her omni-tool, which Perceptor eagerly scanned, and projected an imaged of a Reaper from her online codex, but their reaction was not something she had expected,

"A Quintesson?!" Prowl gasped, "I thought their race was wiped out back before the Golden Era?" this was surprising to say the least,

"Quintesson? No this is a Reaper, a giant mechanical construct whose only objective is to wipe out all sentient life – organic or otherwise," Andromeda argued,

"Perhaps that is simply what you came to call them," Perceptor interjected, bringing up their own historical codex and produced another image; it held a remarkable likeness to the Reaper image, with a few minor differences, "Our history has come to call them Quintessons, alien beings who tried to enslave and control us. But the Primes of that era were able to free many a cybertronian and repel their attack. It was assumed they were all destroyed,"

"But it could explain why the relay we used to get here was deactivated!" Andromeda and the other mechs spent what seemed like hours discussing and revealing a few mysteries; it was surmised that the Reapers/Quintessons had infact retreated beyond the relay as the Cybertronian forces were too much to handle – an evolutionary track not theorised by their central AI. In the hopes their influence would not spread, they deactivated the system's relay in the hopes of trapping them, but that was at the time Cybertron's progression was stagnated by greedy and selfish leaders. But for the sake of progress, Ultra Magnus and Prowl ordered for teams to assemble to escort Andromeda and her team to the wreckage of the Legacy, a location Lea was able to find.

Ratchet, Optimus, Bumblebee and Ironhide, including Jetfire, Silverbolt and AirRaid returned from the Trypticon site, reporting that though many of the transports fleeing the planet were lost, those who survived managed to escape. Discussing the plan of finding the Legacy's site, Ratchet allowed Lea leave to aid in its location.

Going their separate ways for the moment, the sound of merriment and loud pounding caught Alyssa's ear. Moving to the sound, she smiled at the sight of 5 overly large mechs, most were taller than even Optimus! 4 were crowded around one she could only guess was their leader as they watched him destroy a range of targets, each one more creatively executed than the next,

"Go Grimlock!" one called, cheering with the others,

"No con would ever think of messin' with you!" another shouted, an all too tempting thought to Alyssa as she leant against the doorframe,

"I might," Alyssa stated, her visible lips pulling into a smirk as she watched the mechs look to her. Most stood gawking at her, it was plain to see these mechs were not aware of either herself of the rest of her team being here,

"Woah," the slimmest in the group took a step forward, "Hey it's one of them aliens, the ones Ironhide and Ratchet were talkin' 'bout," he snickered, "Didn't think they were so tiny,"

"Which must make you puny since I'm almost as tall as you," Alyssa snapped back. It was true, she only reached this mechs shoulders, making him about 6'4" to her 5'10". But seeing the mech pout so cutely while his comrades burst into laughter was amusing enough,

"Little femme alien got ya there Swoop!" a bulkier mech snickered, walking up and playfully punched Swoop in the shoulder, causing the mech to glare back at his partner,

"You're one to talk Slug, you're not that much taller than me!" Swoop snapped, grabbing hold of Slug, threatening a fight while Alyssa looked on amused. Man she loved riling people up,

"Mute it!" their leader snapped, "You're all short to me!" turning to Alyssa, the towering mech loomed over her, "You think you can beat me?" he hissed, ignoring the frantic betting whispering behind him. Alyssa looked the mech over, as if evaluate her options and chances,

"Name it tin head," she smirked, watching as he grumble and walked over to a small table. Planting himself on a large chair, he pointed to the other smaller chair. Shrugging, Alyssa strolled over and took her place on the chair. The table shook as Grimlock dropped his elbow joint on the surface, servo raised to Alyssa. Seriously? An arm wrestle? Alyssa was now nervous since this behemoth of a mech could easily snap her arm off. Looking to his servo, the stubborn part of her mind demanded she meet the challenge. Seeing no real harm other than injury, she followed suit. His grip was strong and almost crushing; his red visor stared down at her as she prepared herself,

"Better go easy on her boss," one of the mechs called, "She looks…breakable," the others snickered at his comment, making Alyssa's blood boil. Asari she may be but she was no push over,

"You're gonna eat those word when I show just how breakable your boss is," Alyssa hissed, glaring at the joined fist infront of her. He may best her on strength, but she had a trump card yet to play.

"Ready…" Swoop looked between them, each with their own steely glare, "GO!"

Alyssa was almost thrown from her seat from the sheer pressure Grimlock put on her arm. But she held on, straining among all else to keep herself from losing. She ignored the cries and jeers from the others and focused on Grimlock. His pressure increasing and almost pushing her hand done onto the table; now was the time to cash in her chips and hope she can show this lugnut she was no push over.

Her biotics flared in her arm, licking a faint azure as it bulstered her strength. She ignored all else to prevent the biotic charge from cleaving Grimlock's servo off, focusing on pooling her biotics to simply increase her strength. The spectacle definitely intrigued the large bot, he could see she was putting all else into this, she wasn't about to back down no matter what – risking injury simply to prove a point…he could respect someone like that.

And in a moment, Grimlock's arm was thrown back and slammed down onto the table. Shocking herself from her achievement, Alyssa took in the surprised expressions of the other mechs,

"HA! Not bad for a _fragile_ Alien femme huh?" she smirked, jumping from her seat,

"She beat Grimlock," Slug gaped, looking between his leader and Alyssa. Grimlock said nothing but stood, once again looming over her. A little nervous by the look he was giving her, Alyssa still stood her ground despite the growing ache in her arm. Grimlock took in as much of her as he could. Something just wasn't sitting right, why did he do it? He actually thought of pinning her arm down even with her slight boost, he knew he could but he didn't. The thought of hurting this little…blue…beauty just brought out regret.

"Not bad, for a fleshy alien," Grimlock said gruffly and that was all he said, turning his back from Alyssa. She wasn't sure if it was a compliment or an insult, but she knew when not to extend her 'welcome', giving a quiet goodbye before leaving and cradling her arm.

"Uh…Boss, she didn't really beat you…right?" Sludge asked, looking at his…thinking leader,

"Oh his got that look in his optics," Snarl paused, "His thinking about something big," all the bots moved about to find something to do, leaving Grimlock to think. Think on his new interest.

* * *

**AN: Sorry everyone, with TAFE and assignments I haven't gotten around to updating. I'm trying to finish a few chapters before I upload any. And please review as well as read, I really want to know what people think.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

* * *

_Personal Log. Earth Calender: unknown_

_I still can't believe I'm doing this. I guess it just beats moping around Autobot Headquarters day in and day out. Though, I doubt I can do that anyway with the way Blaster is always hounding my every step. Sure, he's a good man…mech…whatever they call it, but he's becoming a real pain in the butt. He may be a good communications officer but serious, his people are at WAR! Doesn't that warrant a certain level of seriousness? I mean even Jazz, with his laid back attitude to most things, still held a level of professionalism to the war effort. _

_Or…maybe it's just me? __**Sigh**__ I just don't know anymore. I've lost track of the days since we landed here. Lea and Daveth seemed to be spending a lot of time together, not that I object since they are working on triangulating the decent path of our destroyed Legacy. Alyssa seems intent on spending most of her time with a band of brutes – the Lightning Strike Coalition. They seem to enjoy her company too… Again, not that I care._

_The sooner the Ark is finished and ready for lift off, the better._

_-END RECODING-_

* * *

"_Andy, great news! Daveth and I have finally found what is left of the Legacy. Optimus wants to discuss mission parameters in the control room_," Lea's voice filtered through Andromeda's comlink, pulling her from her another sigh, Andromeda replaced her visor and recon hood as she made her way out of the Medbay. As she walked down the hallways, passing working bots and nodding to those who saluted, a small mech came running up to her,

"Officer Connors ma'am," he called, causing her to stop,

"Yes," she nodded, dropping on one knee to stand level with the small mech. She recognised him as one of the recordabots trailing around Blaster. Rewind if she wasn't mistaken.

"Blaster was busy so I thought to bring you this, an apology for the…stunt he pulled the other cycle," her eyebrow twitched at the mention of the 'other cycle' – Blaster had decided to dedicate a chorus of tunes over the radio waves for her, only bringing her embarrassment rather than cheer. Though she hated to admit it, Andromeda in fact enjoyed some of the tracks; it was just their delivery that made the whole situation awkward and unpleasant. Not one for being the centre of attention, the resulting onslaught of cheers and jeers did nothing for her demeanour,

"I see," was her only response as she _graciously _took the small drive from the recordabot, moving on as he went his own way. Storing it in her suit's many compartments, she would listen to it later.

Entering the command Centre, Andromeda spotted Lea, Daveth and Alyssa waiting with Optimus, Ultra Magnus, Prowl, Ratchet and Perceptor. Projected on the holo-screen was the wreckage of the Legacy,

"It is a shame such a marvel of space exploration was destroyed," Perceptor mused, reading over the ships schematics,

"Yeah, it was designed to incorporate the different styles and advancements from each galactic race," Lea sighed, staring at the projected image, "Daveth and I managed to triangulate the trajectory to this area here, in the southern hemisphere of the planet," tapping her omni-tool, she moved the map along the designated path before revealing the impact zone, "but since the ship was in piece when it eventually crashed, we're looking at an area no bigger than 100 kliks,"

"And we have no way of diserning which impact zone is which part of the ship," Daveth added, pointing out each visible impact zone, "We'd only be able to know once we get there,"

"And it's in the middle of Decepticon territory – Kalis," Ironhide sighed, looking out over the simulated ruin of a city,

"What happened there?" Alyssa asked, turning to the weapons specialist,

"Kalis was the capital and home city for all Minicons, the smallest of the cybertronian race," Optimus explained, "Descending from one of the original Thirteen, they exhibited remarkable abilities that, once paired with cybertronians like ourselves, granted upgrades and power boosts," bringing up a holo image of said mini cybertronian,

"Kalis had remained neutral ground since the war began," Perceptor added, "But Megatron's lust and reach was far, and even the once great city fell to his whims,"

"Now any Minicon alive comes to us for safe harbour, or they are killed," Prowl sighed, reflecting on such acts of cruelty, "The only remaining members of Kalis remain within the base, some even willing bonding to others. You may have noticed many working with Blaster,"

"I had wondered why so many followed him around," Andromeda stated, genuinely curious, "Is there a particular reason as to why?"

"Blaster's frame type is excellent for bonding and working with Minicons, especially their smallest models – the mini-cassette cybertronians, much like those who work with Soundwave," Ultra Magnus answered, looking to the organic officer. Andromeda nodded, silently thanking the commander for answering her. They then returned to the subject at hand, tactics for storming Kalis and getting to the Legacy.

It was decided that Andromeda and her team would be the main salvage team, others would flank and cover their positions while they analysed the wreckage. The moment the Eezo was found they were to evacuate immediately. Optimus and another team would stage a distraction of the opposite side of the city's limits to draw forces away. With every thing set, everyone moved to make preparations before take off. Andromeda watched as Alyssa returned to Grimlock and his team, no doubt to tell them the plans. She caught Lea and Daveth remaining in the command centre, and despite wearing helmets, their body language spoke volumes of their staring back at one another. Seeing her team like this…she couldn't help but feel a slight pang. Shaking the feeling, she returned to her station, following Optimus to the salvage team and addressing them. She ignored the small waves and little movements Blaster gave from his position in the team. But, half of her wanted to wave back, make some form of acknowledgement but she pushed those feelings back as she addressed them. No sense in complicating the mission.

Ready and set to go, Optimus gave the order and the teams assembled and flew out. Sitting in the drop ship, Andromeda busied herself by reciting the mission objective in her mind, ignoring the others around her. But no matter how she tried, her mind was always pulling back to Blaster trying to talk to her. His voice was very distracting.

Alyssa sat next to Andromeda and sighed at how oblivious she seemed to Blaster's failing attempts to communicate. Feeling a need to step in, she pulled up her omni-tool, configured a short Personal Message before sending it to Andromeda. Almost instantly after, Andromeda answered her omni-tool, reading the PM:

_Are you seriously going to ignore him? The guy just wants to talk_. _–Alyssa_

Andromeda turned and stared at the Justicar, not wanting to reply to the message she ignored it. But Alyssa wasn't about to give up. She wrote another short pm and sent it again. She knew Andromeda couldn't ignore the message ping unless she wanted everyone looking at her while her omni-tool continuously pinged:

_What's the go? You're normally not this cold. – Alyssa_

Sighing, she finally wrote back, seeing as this was not a conversation to have out loud. Muting her pings though, Andromeda wrote back:

_He's just seeking attention. I don't incite such behaviour. Besides, we're on a mission and I'd rather focus on that then indulge his immature prattle. – Andromeda_

Alyssa couldn't believe what she was reading. Andromeda never seemed the kind of person to ever say, let alone write, such a thing. Forwarding their messages to Lea and Daveth for their opinion, Alyssa wrote back:

_That is bullshit and you know it! What happened to the caring, considerate Spectre who would give any a moment if not an hour of her time just to talk, about ANYTHING, when this Goddess forsaken mission started? – Alyssa_

Alyssa looked up to find Daveth and Lea staring back, having read the messages and watching what their leader would do next. Andromeda sat there for the longest time, having read Alyssa's pm and not moved a muscle, something was up. Finally, her fingers moved, slow typing before she sent the pm and promptly deactivated her omni-tool. A clear sign she was done:

_That need not concern you. Just know I have your best interests. We have a mission, let's do it – Andromeda_.

Blaster watched was a confused look as the 4 of them were tapping away on their strange holo-interfaces instead of talking. It must've been serious. He watched Andromeda as she turned her interface off and just sat there. Though something caught his audios, it was feint but distinguishable – it was one of the tracks he had played for Andromeda…before she went stark raving mad on him last cycle. He just wanted her to smile, to loosen up, but she almost blew a gasket from all of the compliments people were giving her and how he conducted himself. But the more and more she seemed to reject him; the more he was attracted.

"Uh, B? Ya wouldn't happen ta know why they are beeping away like that?" Jazz asked, leaning over next to Blaster, whispering under his breath,

"I got nuthin' Jazz," he whispered back, "But ya owe me a cube, she's listenin' ta my mixes," Blaster smirked, passing his findings to Jazz, who glared back,

"How ya got'her ta listen ah'll nev'a know," Jazz sighed, sitting back as the drop ship descended.

Securing weapons and prepping for drop. Andromeda led her team out while Ironhide led his.

"Alright cogs, listen up!" he snapped, calling the attention to the generic soldiers as well as the others. "Our job is to shadow Team Deca – Lead by Spectre Connors – while they search for their ship's storage. Once we have reclaimed the target containers, Blaster will hail a pick up. Under no circumstances are we to allow Decepticons to sworm Deca team, understood?!"

"Sir, Yes Sir!" the bots chanted,

"Jazz, take a small team and scout ahead," Ironhide turned to Jazz, watching as he pointed to a few more agile looking bots that followed, "Blaster, you're with me. Andromeda, your move,"

Nodding, Andromeda turned to Lea as she triangulated her map,

"We need to head due east, that's where the first fragment is," Lea replied, turning to Andromeda,

"Ironhide, we head east. You're team can flank us while Jazz and his team can search a wider perimeter. This shouldn't take long," Andromeda reported, pointing the direction they needed to go,

"Right," Ironhide nodded, turning to his team and directing them in to 3 smaller groups, 2 to flank and one to cover their backs. For a moment, Blaster stalled and looked to Andromeda. They caught gazes for a moment but she turned to lead her team. Sighing, Blaster took his position and made a promise to watch her back…as nice as he thought it was.

* * *

In the past hour, they had found at least 75% of the Legacy but most there of the CIC, crew quarters, engineering and the captain's quarters. Taking the opportunity to see if Capt. Coyle had anything incriminating, Daveth and Lea searched one side as Alyssa and Andromeda searched their own. Rummaging through the debris, Andromeda stopped. Staring down at her find, she recovered a slightly cracked datapad. Finding it still operational, she turned the small pad on, freezing as she saw a picture appear.

Alyssa, having noticed her freeze, called the others to come over. None spoke as they looked over her shoulder; there in the picture was Andromeda, and she was surrounded by kids from every human race, varying ages and builds. 3 in particular were closest to her; 2 boys and a girl. Alyssa instantly knew the girl was a punk lover if her hairstyle and civvies were anything to go on. Lea noticed one of the boys – the smallest – was hugging Andromeda around her neck as he sat in her lap, the other boy was standing next to her but hand his arms around her shoulders.

Below them, in a small marque, read: Alliance Military Orphans Initiative, Year: 2281.

"Military Orphans?" Alyssa questioned,

"The Alliance had many orphaned children after the Reaper war, they set up the initiative to house many lost children. Many were offered service when they came of age," Daveth explained, he would know considering the Orphanage was backed by the Turian Military, whom had a similar programme for orphaned Turian children. Lea watched as Andromeda turned the pad off and stored it in her suit, knowing she must've been hurting.

"We'll get back," Lea smiled, placing a hand on Andromeda's arm, but was shocked when her commander shook it off,

"We have a mission, there is nothing here. Let's move on," Andromeda's voice was cold and even, as if looking at the picture hadn't evoked anything. That was enough for Lea,

"Andromeda STOP!" Lea snapped, Daveth and Alyssa jumped at the harshness in her voice. Lea was normally the soft-spoken medic, but now she was pissed. Andromeda stopped, turning back to look at Lea. "Why are you acting like this? You've been cold and distant since we got here. The Autobots have been nothing but kind to us and you…" she stopped when Andromeda advanced on her,

"What?! What have I been doing?! Keeping you all alive? Making sure there is a chance to get home?" Andromeda snapped, her biotic flaring slightly, "I have done nothing but sacrificed and kept everything together, while you all flaunt and flirt like there isn't a war happening!"

"That's not fair Andy, we're hurting too," Daveth stepped in, not liking how she was talking to Lea,

"Really? Doesn't seem so since you and Lea spend nearly every waking moment together. How Alyssa runs off to those jumbo dumbos and does god knows what," Andromeda hissed, making Daveth feel slight smaller despite how he almost towered over Andromeda,

"Don't you call Grimlock a Jumbo Dumbo!" Alyssa snapped, "He's thrice the warrior you are! At least he doesn't mop around base, casting everyone out when they only want to help you!"

"I don't need their help! I'm a Council Spectre! I'm the best there is…I'm supposed to be the best…"The three watched, concerned as Andromeda almost dropped to her knees, her shoulders shaking as if sobbing and turned away from them. "Everyone is dead because of me! I should've been able to save them ALL! I should've pressured the Council harder to kick Coyle off this mission! I'm supposed to be the best! I'm supposed to be like~" a sharp snapped rang through the small valley of rubble. Daveth and Alyssa stared stunned as Lea, arm raised, had just slapped Andromeda. Well, slapped her hood and breather,

Staggering back a moment, Andromeda held her covered cheek. Feeling the sting through her hood, she looked to Lea, stunned like the others,

"Will you just get over it~!" Lea growled, "You are no Commander Shepard! Because you are Andromeda Connors! You took down a Thresher Maw on Trebin and saved an entire squad! You helped take out one of the largest slaving operations since the destruction of the Batarian Hegemony, saving over 300 slaves and getting them all out before the base blew, you even deviated from your orders to recover crucial data on other smaller slaving operations," Lea rambled off, "Who cares if Shepard survived Mindoir, who cares if she prevented the attack on Elysium. The one thing that sets you apart from her is you actually try to save everyone! No compromises. She would sacrifice some for the good of all, but you would rather sacrifice yourself for everyone,"

"Then," Andromeda looked to them and sighed, "Lets just get going," She didn't give any of them a chance to rebut when the alarm was raised.

"_Team Deca! The Decepticons got wise to our search! Blaster just reported the cons are sending in drop ships to bomb this entire site! Have you found the objective?!_" Ironhide's voice rang through the comms,

"No, but we still have one more area to check, it's not far from our current position," Andormeda replied,

"_Then get your fleshy behinds over there now! We only got 10 orns until they drop hell on us!"_ confused, Andromeda turned to the others,

"And that would be?" she asked,

"10 minutes…more or less," Daveth replied, Andromeda immediately ordered them to run. The faster they got to the last sight the better. The clock was ticking and they were running out of time.

"There!" Lea cried, pointing ahead of them, "That's the last location!" unfortunately, the roaring sounds from overhead meant something completely different. Reaching the crash site left them no time to get to the Eezo and leave. All the small team could do was watch on as the Decepticons dropped their bombs.

* * *

Ironhide found it hard to warn Deca team and shoot the incoming Decepticon forces. Jazz had just called in and was coming with the drop ship to pull the flank teams out,

"_Ironhide! Boomers incoming and we've only just reached the last site!_" Andromeda replied, the echo of the Bombers' approach rumbled behind her voice,

"Get out of there!" he yelled, catching the attentions of the others, "Forget the mission and get out of there!" but his order fell on deaf ears as the loud blast from the boomers shook the ground, the comms reading nothing but static,

"Ironhide! Get your titanium rear into the ship before them bombers get here!" Jazz called. Cursing, he fell back with the others and jumped onto the ship,

"Sideswipe! Get ov'a ta Team Deca!" Blaster shouted but was stopped by Ironhide,

"Site is too hot! Get us out of here!" Ironhide ordered, ignoring Blaster's protests as Sideswipe pulled out, the other drop ships following,

"Yo gotta screw loose!" Blaster snapped, "We gotta go get'em!"

"As far as we know they're dead!" Ironhide snapped, forcing Blaster back,

"And wha if they're not!" Blaster growled, intending on overpowering Ironhide but the ship was now too far away and the Decepticons were too heavily fortified to try and make a rescue without casualties, still he didn't like it.

* * *

Groaning and wheezing from the pitfall, Andromeda was the first to climb out of the rubble. It seemed almost impossible to fathom how they survived, but one way or another the bombers must've struck hollow ground as the surface beneath them fell through, taking the entire site with them.

"Team! Sound off!" she ordered, looking around for any more signs of life. Gladdened by all 3 responses, she rushed to Daveth and helped him pull himself out of the rubble. Unhurt and stable, he rushed to Lea's side while Andromeda freed Alyssa.

"What the hell happened?" Alyssa questioned, fixing her breather as it dislodged from her face,

"Looks like a tunnel of some kind," Lea answered, using her omni-tool as a light source, "Doesn't look like anyone has been here for a while,"

"Definitely looks old, heavy oxidation down here," Daveth added, walking to one of the walls to study the rust and vile green caking the surface,

"Ironhide! Ironhide, do you read me?!" Andromeda tried and tried again to hail their extraction, "Sideswipe?! Jazz!...Blaster?! Anyone!"

"I doubt we can get any communications out from down here," Daveth placed his hand on her shoulder, "The walls are too dense, we need to find a way back to the surface," Andromeda agreed, pulling out her N7 Valkyrie and lead the way. Lea armed herself with her Executioner pistol, flanking Andromeda's left while Alyssa took her right with her Punisher Sub-machine gun. Daveth covered their backs, looking down the scope of his M-90 Indra, hoping to pick up enemies at a distance before they get the better of them.

Rounding a bend, they spotted the feint glimmer of light. Pulling her team back to the walls, Andromeda motioned Alyssa to the opposite wall, Lea taking their side while Andromeda and Daveth took point. Rushing out with guns raised, ready to take on any they found, stopped short at the sight.

They were smaller Cybertronians, only reaching no taller than hip height - like children, huddled around a small chemical fire like campers surrounding a bonfire. But the team's sudden appearance had spooked the skittish and frightened little mechs, causing them to flee and take refuge behind small mounds of scrap. Andromeda noticed a small mech trip, their leg almost gimp and mangled as they tried to flee.

"What is?" Daveth was a loss for words, "Why are they all here?"

"These must be the minicons Optimus talked about," Lea answered, but turned to watch Andromeda. Slowly, replacing her weapon, she approached the injured mech…actually it looked more like a femme. Slimmer frame, almost hourglass shaped, pink colouring and…her faceplates. Covered by a mask and visor, Andromeda didn't need to see her face to know she was petrified,

"It's alright," she cooed, slowly offering her hand to the smaller femme, "We're friends," she wasn't sure if the femme or the others would understand but she smiled when the little femme took her finger. Smiling, she slowly picked the little femme up, sitting on a small crate and began work on her leg.

Slowly, the other minicons and mini-cassette bots revealed themselves, Alyssa's count reaching at least 20 mini bots,

"How did they all get here?" Alyssa asked, watching as a few approached her. Lea took a seat next to Andromeda and watched as she easily repaired the little femme,

"They must've taken refuge here when the Decepticons attacked," Daveth answered, moving to inspect the crates, shocked by what he found, "Andromeda, these crates; they're the Eezo containers from the Legacy!" shocking everyone, Andromeda picked the little femme up as both she and Lea stood from their seat. Looking over it, they found the scorched label and chemical symbol on the container's side,

"Could they have been ingesting this?" Lea asked, counting only a few containers out of the 50 that was on the ship.

"Only one, only finished one," came a soft, weak voice. Looking to a certain pile of rubble, Andromeda found a small, bird-like bot, his light blue and silver plating marred and gritty as he approached, head hung low,

"We wouldn't need to if the Decepticons hadn't captured the city," another small mech stepped in, "It's his fault they were even here in the first place!" he snapped, pointing to the mech-bird, "He worked with Soundwave and aided in Kalis' fall!" it was obviously upsetting for all of them; losing their homes and having to live underground just to survive,

"Is there anywhere out of here?" Daveth asked, moving to the smaller mech,

"We managed to repair one of the Autobot mobile platforms, it's as fast as any transformer," the little mech replied, "But we'd never make it out with the Decepticons patrolling the areas, it has no weapons,"

"We can handle that," Alyssa smirked, pulling out her M-960 Cain, "This'll certainly put a dent in their defences,"

Andromeda listened on, but turned back to the small mech-bird. If his demeanour was anything to go on he was truly regretful for what he had done,

"What's your name?" she asked, watching as he perked up,

"Squawktalk," he squeaked, jumping over to Andromeda and her little patient. "I like translating different languages and messages. And talking too, I love talking about anything, but bots tell me to mute it but if you have something to say you should say it right? So I'll keep talking even if it isn't important and…why haven't you told me to mute it?" the little flight-capable mech stared at Andromeda,

"Why would I?" she asked, but unfortunately with her face covered he couldn't see her smile, "People often say I'm a chatterbox too… _particulièrement quand je parle dans une langue différente_," once she started speaking French, Squawktalk got into a frenzy,

"Oh what language is that?! It's not like anything I've heard before! Can you teach me? Please speak more! PleasepleasepleasePLEASE!" he begged, jumping about before jumping onto her shoulder, pulling a rather uncharacteristic giggle from Andromeda as he nuzzled her covered cheek,

"That is the strangest thing I've ever seen," the minicon mech stated, surprised the ex-con was interacting with her so…fervently,

"Looks like Andromeda is coming back to herself," Daveth smiled, as were Lea and Alyssa, "But right now we need to load what Eezo is left and get out of here," Daveth ordered, noticing Andromeda had finished fixing the little femme's leg and Squawktalk remained on her shoulder.

Placing her back on the ground, Andromeda was surprised the little femme only reached her knees. Moving to help the others, she paused when a pair of arms wrapped around her. Looking back, the little femme has firmly grasped her leg,

"Can…can I…stay with you?" the little femme asked, looking up to Andromeda with her visor gleaming,

"Why not go back with the others?" Andromeda asked, Squawktalk flying off to help the other while she tended to the femme. The little femme looked nervous and embarrassed; looking at the ground, arms behind her back and her foot digging into the ground,

"I…don't remember who I am," she admitted, "The attack on Kalis, I hit my helm and I can't remember anything…you've been the only … femme who has been so nice to me, you helped me and…I feel safe with you," Andromeda was shocked by her admission, but smile,

"Sure, you can stay with me," Andromeda opened her arms again, almost toppled over by the femme jumping into her welcoming embrace, "But we'll have to give you a name, I can't keep calling you little femme, at least until you can remember yours," looking over the little femme, Andromeda couldn't help but be drawn to her armor colouring; the richest shade of rose pink she had ever seen, varying shapes painting her frame. "How about…Rosanna, in our language it means 'Glorious Rose', a flower known for its beauty,"

Now named Rosanna, she was so exhilarated for her new name, she hugged Andromeda again. Smiling, Andromeda had missed this feeling, returning the hug before they set to work. There were more Eezo canisters than they anticipated, taking up most of the transports storage but still allowing the team of 4 and the other mini bots.

"There, that's the last," Alyssa sighed, all of them worked hard to move the rather heavy canisters onto the transport, "What now Andy?" turning back to their leader, they were glad she seemed to have lightened up,

"Have we tried communications again?" Andromeda asked, with Rosanna at her feet and Squawktalk on her shoulder. She noticed that some of the other mini cybertronians had taken a liking to the others on her team; a small cat-looking mech sat at Lea's feet like an obedient pet, 2 mechs resembling dinosaurs stood with Alyssa – one a T-rex and the other a pterosaur. Even the little mech helping with the coordination had taken to Daveth, sitting on his shoulder,

"I can help! I can help!" Squawktalk chirped, flying off and transforming into a strange little hub that, immediately, hooked into Andromeda's suit. Jolting from the sudden connection and the new weight on her back. Scanning her hub, she gasped as Squawktalk took over her communications and, if her training told her anything, he was bolstering the signal,

"Alright!" she smiled, opening a comlink, "Andromeda to Ironhide, Andromeda to Anyone! Can you hear me?" surprised by her abrupt communication, the others watched on and Lea connected their links in to hear the response,

"_Andromeda?! You're alive?!_" Ironhide gapped over the line,

"Yes we all are, the bombings loosened the ground and plunged us into a subterrainien tunnel, we've found surviving minicons and mini cassette bots and require immediate evac," she reported, giving a thumbs up to the others, all how repeated the gesture,

"_No can do, Andy_," Sideswipe jumped in, "_You're area is too hot_,"

"The minicons managed to repair a mobile transport, as well as recover most of the eezo reserves from the Legacy, we just need a direction and a means of escaping these tunnels," Daveth jumped in,

"_Hang on, I'll patch in Perceptor, he'll find a schematic of some kind_," Ironhide replied, but Alyssa was directed to a noise by one of the mini bots with her. On the other end of their tunnel, she could see lights and hear arguments,

"Better make it quick 'Hide," she added, "We've got a welcoming committee coming our way," that caught everyone's attention, looking down the dark tunnel. Some of the minicons doused their fire while Daveth pulled out his sniper rifle. The mini bot with him jumped off and transformed much like Squawktalk but took a place in front of Daveth's scope. Looking down both, the mini bot allowed his sight to go farther and lock onto the incoming squad,

"We've got 9 hostiles, 2 of which we've had the misfortune of becoming acquainted with," taking her own sniper, Andromeda looked down her scope and there she spotted Soundwave and Starscream, leading 7 other mechs they hadn't met before; 2 of which looked almost identical to Starscream, save for their alternating colour schemes,

"We can't take them all on, we gotta go," Andromeda hissed, "Daveth, you and I will snipe them from here and give the others time to get into the transport. Alyssa, gives us some cover and Lea, make sure everyone gets on that transport and get it running, let's go!"

As instructed, Alyssa erected a barrier around herself, the transport and everyone between. Lea guided the minicons to the transport, her little partner helping out but the mini bots with Alyssa and another few stood their ground with the cover team to lend their support. Looking down their scopes, Andromeda and Daveth let them have it. The distance between them had plenty of leeway to give the minicons their chance for escape.

"Ambush! Get to cover!" Starscream could be heard screaming, Soundwave and the other Decepticons rushing behind fallen rubble and returned fire,

"Guy! We gotta go!" Lea called, the transport humming to life,

"Don't just stand there fools! Attack!" Starscream shrieked, returning fire, as did his men. Alyssa bolstered her barrier as the Decepticons doubled their efforts.

"Everyone to the Transport! Alyssa, keep it up until my signal!" Andromeda ordered but their suppressing fire wasn't hampering the Decepticons' advance. Now only a few yards away, the Decepticons could clearly see the minicons and mini-cassettebots shooting back, as well as the Team Deca,

"It's the organics! Take them out, but don't terminate them," Starscream ordered, seeing Alyssa holding her biotic shield steady, "We'll take the organics prisoner, as out _Lord_ ordered, but the slim blue femme is mine!"

"Wow, who knew Asari would be appealing to Alien robots too," Daveth joked, though inappropriate, Alyssa's reaction was priceless,

"Like I don't have enough of an image problem to deal with," she grumbled, wanting so badly to shoot that smug look off Starscream's face, but now wasn't the time,

"Alyssa! Cover the remaining Minicons! I'll handle the barrier!" Andromeda took a final shot, smiling as she managed to strike Soundwave. Holstering her weapon, she approached Alyssa and produced her own Biotic barrier, "I can't hold this for long so hurry! Daveth you too!"

"You got it! Noice, Graphy let's move!" Alyssa hurried, the 2 mini dinos following after her while Daveth carried the little mech with him along with ushering the other fighting minicons, leaving only Andromeda, Squawktalk and another cat shaped mini-cassette bot,

"Get to the transport! I'l cover you!" she demanded, the strain of the barrier taking a toll,

"No, you must leave with the others! Get them to the Autobots!" the cat snapped, shocking Andromeda as he bounded beyond the safety of her barrier to charge the decepticons,

"What are you doing!" Andromeda panicked, why was that cat charging?! He'd get himself killed!

"Andromeda! We gotta go now!" Daveth yelled, the transport fully powered and ready to roll, but Andromeda couldn't leave the cat bot to perish. Looking back, she gasped at seeing the cat-bot shot down and at the mercy of the cons,

"Alyssa! I need cover!" Andromeda ordered, Alyssa was about to protest when a loose looking bolder hung over the approaching Decepticons,

"You got it!" she smirked, pulling out her M560-Hydra missile launcher. Aiming for the rock, Andromeda took her chance. Once the rockets were fired, Andromeda dropped her barrier and ran out into the fray. Starscream and his mechs wasted no time either, jumping from their cover to storm their position. Grapping the injured cat-bot, Andromeda powered up her omni-shield, catching Soundwave's attack. Seeing the mech so close again sent a chill through her, remembering the pain and strange purring he had made in that fighter's pit just didn't sit right and unnerved Andromeda,

Hearing the rockets hit their target jolted Andromeda back to reality, managing to push Soundwave back and dodging those constricting probs,

"Stop them! Don't let them get away!" Starscream ordered, but unlike his fellow Decepticons he never saw the large boulder of rubble fall from the tunnel's ceiling. Confused by their sudden retreat, he managed to spot the rubble a second too late, crushed and buried beneath it. Giving the chance for escape.

Jumping onto the transport, Lea shifted into high gear and took off down the tunnels before the cons could regroup.

"Now that, was fun!" Alyssa hooted, the 2 mini dinos cheering with her. Gasping to catch her breath, Andromeda set the mini cat-bot down and started work on his injuries,

"You…should've left me…I gave you…the chance to run," he groaned, twitching as Andromeda worked,

"Never leave a man behind, I live by that rule," Andromeda answered, "It was stupid to run out like that too, you could've been killed," she chastised, reconnecting 2 wires,

"To save the others," Andromeda paused, looking to the cat, "I swore I would protect them…atone for my past mistakes…I failed my master…I would not fail them, even if it meant my death," she couldn't believe what he was saying. He was really so keen on throwing himself into the fray to get them out alive…just like she would. If their roles were different, she would probably make the same choice. Hearing it from someone else just seemed so foreign and stupid…did the others feel like that when she was so willing to give herself up in their place?

"But you did save them," she replied, using omni-gel to cool section of metal she just welded back into place, "You didn't have to die in order to accomplish that, everyone was safe, we just needed to retreat…but, I can understand your reasoning," she didn't want to admit it, no here. The cat looked up and stared at his saviour, though hidden he could almost feel what she was feeling. "You better rest now, Rosanna could you watch him please?" she asked, watching as the little femme bounded up and sat next to the cat while Andromeda moved to the front of the transport, where the others were.

"Like looking in a mirror huh?" Alyssa asked, all of them had heard with the cat-bot had said, what she had said. There was not pushing by it.

"I'm…sorry for my behaviour…" Andromeda admitted, "I just…" she stopped when Daveth placed a hand on her shoulder,

"We understand, but you don't need to do it alone," he nodded, "We need to stick together, we're a team. And if we ever want to see our homes again, we'll need that teamwork to do it."

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**AN: (French: especially when I speak in a different tongue)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

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"Did we lose them?" Lea asked, focusing on steering the transport through the rubble and debris littering the Minicon capital,

"Yeah, that cave in Alyssa left behind will slow'em for sure," Daveth snickered, receiving a glare and twin growls from Alyssa and her minibot friends,

"Well excuse me if that pompous starspangled freak moved at the last minute, I would've crushed him!" Alyssa hissed, brandishing her Hydra heavy weapon. "Besides, now we gotta worry about getting back to HQ," changing the subject, and wanting to get away from Daveth, both she, Noise – the tiny T-Rex – and Graphy – the mini Pterosaur – headed to the top of the transport and keep watch.

"Right Ironhide, we'll meet the ship there, Team Deca out," Andromeda could be heard in the back of the transport, with many of the Minicons and Mini-cassettebots, as she reported back to Ironhide with a little help from Squawktalk. Ending the com, she turned to head back to the cockpit with her little bird friend transforming and perching on her shoulder comfortably. "Here are the rendezvous coordinates," tapping her omni-tool, the transport HUD pinpointed the rendezvous,

"Great, simply enough," Lea smiled, using the transports to pinpoint any obstructions or obstacles, "Seems pretty clear but we better keep watch out for any unwelcomed guests,"

"Good thing this thing handles better than a Mako. Daveth stay down here with Lea, I'll go up top with Alyssa, no need for everyone to watch out," seeing him nod, and noting the happy smile on his plates, Andromeda moved to the hatch, "Rosanna, I'll need you to make sure everyone stays calm, we'll be out of here before you know it," Andromeda found it incredibly cute as the little femme saluted her, running back to check on the others.

Climbing onto the landing, Andromeda found Alyssa conversing with her new friends; Noise was jumping about like he was fighting someone while Graphy sat contently on Alyssa's shoulders. Laughing at the little mech's antics, Alyssa always kept an eye out for their Decepticon pursuers.

Sitting opposite her, Andromeda pulled out her Black Widow and stared down the scope, hoping to catch a Decepticon before they caught the, but moreso praying,

"Andy, why were you so…distant before," damn it! She was hoping Alyssa wouldn't ask. Sighing, Andromeda put down her rifle,

"Now isn't really a good time, Alyssa," Andromeda stated, hoping to deter her but the Asari seemed quite gifted with that guilt glare,

"No time ever will if you're given the choice," Alyssa sneered, leaning a little closer, "Just what has gotten you into a twist?"

"Just…" Andromeda really didn't want to say, she could deal with it but what she couldn't deal with was the constant, repeating questions, "Everything that has happened lately; the crash, Coyle, these Decepticons and…I just want to have the assurance we'll get back," half true, but hopefully that little worry will sate Alyssa.

"That isn't everything…but that did take a ball to admit," Alyssa smiled, raising her M-34 Falcon assault riffle and looked down the scope, "Oh crap, LEA STEP ON IT!" Alyssa's cry snapped Andromeda to action, looking down her scope to find Starscream, his trine and the other cons from the tunnel catching up. Starscream, flanked by his 2 look alikes lead the way, followed by 2 other flying Cons. On the ground was Soundwave followed by 3 other vehicles, one resembling a tank.

"Daveth get up here!" Andromeda order, taking aim at Starscream and the other flying mechs, the sooner they got them out of the sky the better, "Ironhide! We're got Decepticons on our tail! Care to lend a hand!" Andromeda called over the coms, hoping for a quick response. To their relief, Autobots began to appear on the overlooking structures and opened fire.

"Decepticons! Stop that transport! Skywarp, Thundercraker, Vortex, Blastoff! Deal with the Autobot fools!" Starscream ordered, flying ahead. His sights were on Alyssa; he couldn't really explain it, nor did he feel the need to, but seeing Alyssa the first time had caused his spark to stir. Her soft blue flesh, her purple tipped scale tendrils, her firm strong frame, and those blazing violet eyes. He would relish the day he took her as his pet. Megatron and his plans be damned, he was going to keep the little blue alien all for himself and _will_ submit. His mind raced of all the ideas and 'techniques' he would use to tame her, until she was nothing but subservient.

As if by coincidence, Alyssa was the shot that took him out of the sky.

"Bullseye!" she cheered, "Take that you son of a bitch!"

"Don't get cocky Alyssa! We still have more on the ground! And those other flyers could come any moment!" Andromeda ordered, focusing her shots on Soundwave. Something about him was too unsettling; she always got chills when Soundwave was staring at her like he was now. Something was just off putting but drove her to fight rather than flee; she never fled what she could defeat.

"LEA! STATUS!" Daveth called, taking his shots on the other ground mech's flanking Soundwave, "How far are we from the LZ?!"

"Not far! Past this last turn!" Lea called back, steering the transport down another bend before a large 4-legged tank blocked their path,

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Daveth yelled, staring at the monstrosity,

"LOOK OUT!" Andromeda cried, noticing the massive cannon on its back charge. Lea managed to swerve out of the way just in time and found a large enough cover to protect the transport,

"We won't last long out here!" Lea cried, trying to calm the panicking mini bots. They had to think, find some way to get around the tank without getting hit. The bulk of the transport wouldn't be able to pull off any fancy manoeuvres so the only option was to destroy the tank before moving, and that was next to impossible,

"Wait, what about the Cain? I'm sure it could wipe that thing out no problem!" Alyssa suggested, hopeful of her idea,

"Yeah and could take us with it," Daveth interjected, "That thing is too close for a shot like that," Wasting time arguing would only get them killed, but something did give Andromeda an idea,

"Squawktalk, Graphy, how much can you carry?" a strange question, yes, but it would solve their problem if it was good news,

"I'm strong!" Squawktalk chitter, flying over and hitching to the back of Andromeda's armour and, with the soft hiss of jets, easily lifted her off the ground, "You very light!"

"Then I will be able to lift you as well," is seemed a little strange for a dino mini bot, like Graphy, to speak so eloquently when his partner spoke in 1st person. Gliding over to Alyssa, Graphy hitched to her armour much like Squawktalk had for Andromeda and easily lifted her off of the ground.

"Great," Andromeda nodded, "Alyssa, grab the Cain. Daveth, Lea, once we leave, you punch it to the LZ while we distract the tank, then once you're all far enough, we'll bring the rain," before she allowed them to protest, both herself and Alyssa had shot out, Squawktalk and Graphy easily flying them through the air and avoiding the tank's shots. Left with no alternative, Lea punched the controls with Daveth as her co-pilot, speeding around the tank as the others kept it occupied.

"They're out of range! Alyssa! Do it!" Andromeda ordered, raining down shots from her N7-Hurricane,

"Got it!" Alyssa pulled out the bulky heavy weapon, but a weight slammed into her. Neither herself nor Graphy had detected Starscream flying for them, flickering back into existence. The force of the crash threw the Cain from Alyssa's hands, thankfully Andromeda was there to catch it,

"I've got you now, little femme," Starscream purred, holding Alyssa's arms, "And I'm not letting you go,"

"Could you for me then!" Turning to Andromeda, he didn't react fast enough to her thrusting an omni-powered gauntlet into his face, the shock releasing Alyssa, who graciously kicked him out of the sky, "Come on! We're running out of time!" nodding, Alyssa powered the Cain and took aims as the tank locked on them,

"Get ready to fly!" Alyssa pulled the trigger, releasing the shot. Grabbing her arm to steady her, Andromeda pulled her back, Graphy and Squawktalk getting the idea and changed course to the LZ. But they couldn't escape the blast radius fast enough. Thankfully they were outside of the radiation radius but the impacts shockwave forced them out of the sky, having knocked both mini bots out. Plummeting to their untimely deaths, fate decided to throw them a bone; another large jet came fly to them, transforming in mid-flight and securely wrapped their arms around Andromeda and Alyssa,

"You organics certainly know how to go out with a bang," he joked. Looking up, the pair found he was a large mech, maybe slightly taller than Starscream by at least half – both Alyssa and Andromeda would probably reach his lower chest. "Name's Jetfire, and we are getting out of here," soaring down to the LZ, everyone clambered onto the carrier, stocked with the Eezo canisters and the remaining teams.

The moment she stepped into the carrier, a mass of red and gold practically glomped her. Shocked and surprised, Andromeda realised it was Blaster hugging her. She was about to push him off when Alyssa gave her a look – it screamed 'Leave him be'. Sighing in defeat, she allowed Blaster to hug her but, strangely and completely out of her character, she slowly wrapped her arms around him. Whether it was simply returning his hug she wasn't sure. What she did know was that it felt nice, being held like this; it was so new and so…warm. But it seemed too short as Blaster pulled back,

"I thought you were dead," Blaster's tone sounded genuine, making Andromeda feel guilty for the way she treated him, but the militaristic side of her kicked in again,

"Don't count us out so easily," she smiled, patting his shoulder before moving over to the mini bots. Kneeling down next to Rosanna, she looked over the panther bot, "How are you feeling?" she asked, checking over the bot's wounds,

"Yes, better," he nodded, not flinching as she checked is wounds, "But, why save me?" he asked, as if the very idea eluded him,

"Because, I never leave anyone behind," she smiled, content with his wounds,

"Then, allow me the chance to repay you," carefully, the cat bot stood on his own feet, "For saving my life, I, Nightstalker, owe you a debt. I swear myself to your service, until such a time as my debt is repaid or until your life comes to an end," such an archaic vow seemed farfetched to Andromeda, as well as the others hearing,

"Oh there is no need for that," Andromeda rebutted but Blaster stepped forward,

"It's natural," he explained, "Mini bots are always swearin' ta larga bots, it's in deir programmin', somethin' about compatibility and matchin' programs. But I neva 'new dey could imprint on an alien," that did put things into perspective; how Squawktalk, Rosanna, Glit, Viewfinder, Graphy and Noise seemed to instantly bond with them. Something in their personalities seemed to match criteria in their baser programming and allowed them to bond.

"So, they're kinda like our partners now?" Lea asked, liking the idea since she got along with Glit so way, practically when over the moon when she discovered he was a mini bot medic,

"Yo got'it little miss," Blaster winked, "And it ain't tha easy ta break a bond like dat," to emphasis his point, he opened his chassis and shot out 5 cassettes. Each one transformed into 2 mechs, a lion, a rhino and a bird, "'ese are ma peeps; Eject, Rewind, Ramhorn, Sundor and Steeljaw,"

Each minibot approached and greeted the team but when they came to Andromeda, they seemed to linger, as if judging her then accepting. This confused Andromeda to no end, even when they made it back to HQ she still couldn't figure out why they acted that way. While Lea and Daveth helped coordinate the Eezo and how its implemented with Perceptor, and Alyssa heading for some down time with the Lightning Strike Coalition, Andromeda headed for the medbay so Ratchet could check up on the wounded, leading the minicons and mini bots to their temporary living quarters.

"Mr Blaster likes you," Rosanna giggled, skipping next to Andromeda while she carried the recovering Nightstalker and Squawktalk sat on her shoulder,

"What do you mean?" Andromeda asked,

"He holds feels for you Mistress," Nightstalker craned his helm, "a romantic infatuation with the hopes of reciprocation on your part," Andromeda stared down at the articulacy of his statement as well as dubbing her 'mistress' to her own expense, but what confused her more by the statement,

"I doubt its that," Andromeda stated,

"Nope, he likes you, a lot," Rosanna smiled cheekily, skipping ahead of them to the medbay,

"Nah, can't see it," now she was just in denial. Stepping into the controlled atmosphere, Andromeda was finally able to remover her recon mask. Placing Nightstalker down on the berth and allowing Squawktalk to hop off, she collapsed the recon mask back into its compartment and removed her Mnemonic visor.

"What is that on your head?" Rosanna asked, noticing Andromeda's hair. Looking into a reflective piece of metal to the side of the berth, she noticed how long her hair has gotten; her once short black hair now reached just below her shoulders, bangs swept to the right and behind her ears.

"It's hair, all humans has it," she smiled, brushing her fingers through and loosening the knots that tangled it. Jumping slightly as Rosanna jumped onto her back to touch her hair, fascinated by how soft it was. Giggling as a few strands tickled the little bot, Andromeda moved to the berth to allow her little friend to stand comfortably and allowed her to play around with her hair. Watching the other minicons to find and set up their own little steads, she felt relatively at peace. Until Blaster walked in,

"Andy, Optimus wants ta…" Blaster stopped as he stared at Andromeda. True, in the time he had known her, he had never seen what was under her recon hood. Standing there now, he takes in her out worldly appearance; long black follicles cascading off her head, very fair pale flesh and a nice oval-shaped face. But her eyes, his azure optics were just drawn in by those 2 grey blue eyes, but being a mech with an attention for detail, he could see a burst of gold from the black centre of her eye. To him, they looked like 2 galaxies,

"Wants to what?" Andromeda asked, a little unnerved by his slight pause and the way he seemed to stare at her,

"Uh…wants ta…somethin' bout tha Eezo ya found," he replied dumbly, unmoving as Andromeda said good bye to the other minicons, instructing her partners to remain and watch over Nightstalker until Ratchet had a look at him, replacing her Mnemoic visor and released the recon hood, checking it was linked securely to her suit before stepping past Blaster to find the Autobot Commander. Pulled out of his stupor, he ran after her and led the way; the entire time he focused on what Andromeda looked like under her hood, to him she was ethereal, beautiful but not in a Cybertronian sense.

"Is there…something you wanna ask me, Blaster?" Andromeda asked, unnerved by his stares,

"Sorry, I jus…neva saw ya without ya hood thing on," he replied, rubbing the back of his helm awkwardly,

"Nothing special," Andromeda shrugged, "Hair was a little long though, might need to cut it," she said outloud,

"Won't tha hurt?!" Blaster panicked, getting a confused look from Andromeda, if he could see it as least,

"No, hair is redundant, no nerves unless you pull it," she explained, "Besides if you don't cut it, it'll keep growing,"

"Woah, tha's fraggin' saweet!" he beamed, enjoying learning something new, he was even impressed with himself when his little comment pulled a tiny giggle from Andromeda. It was obvious she didn't mean to, it just came out. Clearing her throat, she walked on ahead to the main control room.

* * *

**AN: Sorry for the late update but holidays are starting up and I'm trying to beat writer's block. Stay tuned for more!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

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_Personal Log. Earth Calender: Unknown_

_The following days were devoted to the technical advancement of the Ark; Lea aided Preceptor in designing and implementing an eezo drive core into the Ark's design as well as working with Ratchet to ensure everyone was in tip-top shape. Daveth managed and organised transports of supplies, materials and weapons with Ironhide and Prowl. Alyssa managed patrols with the Lightning Strike Coalition, organising rotations and routes to ensure the Decepticons don't catch them unaware. I helped manage and test the Ark's systems and progress; working closely with Sideswipe and many other engineers, making sure all new programs and safeguards are in place for lift off._

_But…BEGIN ENCRYPTION I'll tell you the truth, I've been working closer with Blaster as well. Not by choice mind you but…we it isn't a bad thing either. I feel like a jerk for disregarding him. He can just be so insufferable and immature and annoying and…charming and kind and…FILE DELETED that was kind embarrassing. I just hope we can get off world soon. END ENCRYPTION_

_-END RECODING-_

* * *

"_Ironhide to Optimus Prime; the last of the Energon reserves have been transferred to the Ark. Engines are online, all systems go_,"

That had to be the best news Andromeda had heard since their mission started. After the long, arduous struggle the 4 surviving members of the Legacy's crew finally had a glimmer of hope; a hope to return home.

"Nice work Ironhide," Optimus replied, turning to look to Andromeda and her team. He found it endearing and promising to see the mini-cybertronians, working collectively and efficiently with their imprinted, alien partners. It showed promise should they manage to escape Cybertron; he only hoped the rest of the galaxy would be open to the idea, "Perceptor, How goes the city shutdown procedures?"

"_Nearly finished Optimus_," came Perceptor's reply, "_My team will have all systems powered off and archived by the time we launch_,"

"Good, I'll send the boarding call out momentarily. But first!" Optimus was cut off as a large blast flew at the Ark, striking the Cyclonic Barrier shielding, courteously of Lea and Andromeda's combined efforts,

"Optimus! Decepticons have broken through Sectors 9 through 12!" Jetfire cried, Optimus joining him at the security terminal,

"That was Grimlock's post!" Optimus cried, his mind trying to wrap around how or why this was occurring,

"_Alyssa to Optimus! I've just reached Grimlock's sector!_" Alyssa commed,"_It's hot with Decepticons and I've tried hailing the big lug but no luck! All I get is that something need to be looked into before all I get is static!_" Optimus could hear the gunfire and shouting over the Asari's comlink, the whirring of her biotics crackling over the connection,

"More Decepticons squadrons approaching from the north and west!" Jetfire cried, before a missile came flying overhead, the resulting explosion throwing the 2 mechs off their pedes,

"_Optimus! This is Ratchet! Decepticons have invaded the city! We need you at the fortress to help coordinate defences!_" Ratchet cried through the comms as Optimus got back to his feet, Jetfire transforming and heading out to coordinate aerial defences,

"We're on our way Ratchet!" Optimus replied, heading for the destroyed highway in order to reach HQ. Swerving to avoid the collision, a giant warp cannon latched onto a nearby structure and took aim at the Ark, "Andromeda! Lea! How long can those shields hold?!" Optimus demanded, urgency in his tone,

"_Cyclonic Barrier Technology is the pinnacle of Salarian science_," Lea replied, "_It more-so slaps away incoming linear force than halting it. My estimates say they won't give out unless the power is cut off_," she added, sounds of Perceptor's team echoing around her as she spoke,

"_So unless the Decepticons get into the ark and turn off the barriers, we should be fine,_" Andromeda added, "_But the barriers use a lot of energy and aren't a perfect solution, the Eezo can hold out but if assaulted long enough or if one of the barrier senses is damaged, we'll have less time before the barriers give out_," Optimus could hear Andromeda nearby as well as over the coms. A loud explosion rocks the ground and she is seen flying across in front of him, barrelling further along, "_Crap! Could use a little help here!"_

"Hold on Andromeda! I'm coming!" Optimus cried, speeding faster down the highway. Transforming and coming from the stop, he saw Andromeda – pinned behind decaying cover with Nightstalker and Squawktalk offering cover while Rosanna was conducting medical aid on her human partner. Jumping down, gun raised Optimus stormed the attacking forces and headed straight for Andromeda, gasping as another Warp cannon landed nearby. "Grab on!" he cried, transforming and ploughing through the invading Decepticons.

"Come on!" Andromeda cried, all 3 mini bots transformed and latched onto her armour; Squawktalk latched onto her back while Nightstalker and Rosanna latched onto her thighs. Just as Optimus blared past, Andromeda grabbed on and rode on his back as they careened through a shambled building,

"Ratchet! I've found a path a route through the Iacon ruins. Spectre Connors and I are heading for the Auxiliary entrance!" Optimus called while Andromeda returned fire on the Decepticons while the autobot commander worried about steering,

"_Rodger that Optimus, is Connors injured?_" asked the concerned medic,

"I'm fine Ratchet!" she replied, making a clear shot at a Decepticon sniper, swaying on Optimus' roof as he dodged more cons. Just as they made the bend, a Decepticon dropship flew overhead. That was not boding well for them as they drew closer to the entrance,

"Ratchet! We're approaching the side entrance! Have that door ready!" Optimus ordered, flying off the higher platform to land right on top of a Decepticon ambush, Andromeda managing a few decent shots before the entrance doors sealed behind them,

"We're in!" Andromeda screamed, as did her arms; the speed Optimus was clocking was stretching her capacity to hold on with her own strength, glad as Optimus began to edge off.

"Ratchet, have Warpath get a response team ready and meet me in the armoury!" Optimus ordered, slowing gradually until they arrived at the checkpoint.

"_Will Do!_" Ratchet replied, then the comline switched and Jetfire called through the airways,

"_One things for sure – Megatron's timing is as lousy as ever!_" Jetfire cried, and the pair were incline to agree. An automated sentry proceeded to scan them both before granting passage, Andromeda more than happy to jump off of the Autobot Prime and walk on her own, all be it with some difficulty. Inside the base was anything but calm and 'like-clockwork', there was too many wounded and many were being sealed in stasis pods.

"Trying again! How's that?!" called a mech, catching Andromeda's attention,

"Power's still not stable!" Ratchet cried, "Do it over! Lea can you help?!"

"I've got my hands tied here Ratchet!" Lea called back. Seeing an opportunity to help, Andromeda set to work. Squawktalk detached from her back before flying back and hooking into her suit to enable flight. Nightstalker jumped from her hips, transforming in mid air before darting off to get a few supplies as instructed via PM. Rosanna followed as she ran to help Lea as Andromeda hovered to work on the power conduits. Everything was in disarray and would take some serious rerouting to get the current stable.

With Nightstalker's retrieval, she managed to jerry-rig a temporary conduit to solve their energy flux,

"Try it now!" She called, Squawktalk managing to hover her upside-down when the connections became awkward. Nightstalker clamped his fangs onto the power switch and snapped down, the base beamed and purred as the energy crackled. The medbay was back in order and salvageable patients were treated and sent back out while the more severe patients could be treated and saved.

"Great work Andy!" Ratchet beamed, catching himself too late. It was amusing to see an upside-down Andromeda peeking into the medbay from her work point. If her helmet were off he would see her smiling. Lea stood behind him, her visible eyes squinting to show her amusement, as well as her giggle. "I mean…Spectre Connors

"You're welcome Ratchet," she beamed, a slight chuckled as Squawktalk righted herself and brought her back to the ground, detaching and perching on her shoulder. He preened as Andromeda rewarded his great work with little scratches and pets.

"Yes well, you should head out with Warpath and Optimus to the nerve centre, we have things covered here," Ratchet directed, returning to his patients, calling Lea to help with a severe injury. Nodding, Andromeda ran out but received a call from Optimus,

"_Spectre Connors! The Decepticons have made a push on the communications hub, we need that hub intact or our communications will be seriously hampered!_" he ordered, heavy gun fire echoing in the background,

"Right away Optimus, Daveth can you lend aid to Optimus and Warpath's team heading to the Nerve centre?" Andromeda asked, making her way to a launch platform, but not before quickly running to the armoury to gather a few supplies and ammunition.

"_I'm on it Andromeda_," Daveth replied, closing the comlink once Andromeda reached the platform. Nightstalker and Rosanna returned to their locked positions on her hips as Squawktalk kicked on his thrusters, propelling them toward the communications hub, keeping low to avoid the seekers. She only prayed she would get there in time, gasping at the state of the hub; Decepticons were swarming the ground entrances while bots either defended their positions or completely locked down the main control centre. From the skies, Andromeda could see Blaster feverishly working while the other bots crowded around, weapons raised.

"Hold on, we're coming," She whispered, heading down toward the ground. Removing a strap lined with EMP charge grenades, her HUB pinpointed the best areas for a strategically drop and, as she flew over, dropped a few grenades in proximity. Just clearing the blast zones, she watched as half the bots were deactivated. But there was no time for celebration as the cons began to open fire on her,

"_Andy?! What in the pit are ya doin' here?!"_ Blaster cried through the comlinks, his panic was evident in his voice as Andromeda worked with Squawktalk manoeuvre out of fire,

"Optimus sent me!" she yelled back, just missing a shot, "We can discuss the ethics of this later! Right now is there anyway to hamper the Decepticons' assault?!" managing to get behind a tall spire and out of range, she waited for an answer,

"_There's a shield system that's meant ta keep them cons out, but they knocked the grid out!"_ Blaster called back, "_There should be one of them stations on the ground, but ah dunno where that short is,_"

"Leave that to me!" Andromeda turned to Nightstalker, "Nightstalker, can you scan the cabling and see if you can find the problem, Rosanna you scan too, Squawktalk keep us out of fire,"

"Got it!" all 3 rang out. Squawktalk took them back to the sky while Nightstalker and Rosanna started scanning,

"I just hope the others are doing better than us,"

* * *

Daveth was caught with Warpath's team after Optimus headed for the Nerve Centre. Pinned down with Decepticon tanks coming in, they just hoped something would go their way.

"Alyssa! Where the hell is our support!" Daveth yelled, ducking as another shot flew past his head,

"_I'm coming! It isn't easy to steer a drop ship with all these cons on my ass!"_ she snapped back, but sure enough an Autobot drop ship flew over the edge of the war zone and began to shell as many tanks as it could. Alyssa weaponised every resource the transport had to get the tanks out of the way, leaning out of an open hatch with her Hydra at the ready, but a stray shot from another battle hit the crusier,

"Damn it!" She hissed, getting hauled back into the ship but another autobot soldier,

"This is Transport Nine! We're under heavy fire! I repeat, we are under heavy fire!" the pilot tried to get his distress call out but it only went unheard as another shot from the tanks took them down, "We're hit! We're hit! Brace for Crash-!" the resulting impact had killed him instantly, the others inside were relatively left unharmed, but all worked feverishly to free themselves from the ship, the cons would be on them any minute.

Alyssa wasn't so fortunate. She had struck her head in the crash, her mind was in a daze as the bots around clambered to get out, only one considerate mech helped her from her position and out into the light. But there was another problem; the resulting crash not only jumbled her brain, but her breather was compromised. Without her or the mech realising, she was slowly being denied oxygen.

Stumbling out like a drunk, she was left against the ship as the resulting Decepticons swarmed the site. A nearby shot had surprised Alyssa, alerting her to an approaching Decepticon. Weakly, she raised her arm, Hydra shaking in her grip; suddenly too heavy for her to hold,

"All Autobots are dead, what do we do with the organic?" another Decepticon asked, approaching the first,

"It ain't like the other one, she had her head covered. This one is blue, too," growled as she was inspected like a piece of meat, Alyssa begrudgingly raised herself from the ground, using both hands to hold up the Hydra, only pulling cackles from the soldiers,

"Aw look, she's trying to be all tough," one snickered, moving faster than she could react; he ripped the Hydra from her arms and pinned her to the wrecked hull of the ship by her neck,

"Don't worry squishy, we're not gonna kill you, just think of how please Megatron would be if we brought you back alive," the other smirked, reaching for his com when a shape flashed by his vision and ripping his arm out of its socket. Noise, Alyssa's small T-rex partner, spat out the offending limb and made a move for the bot's leg; distracted, the other mech never saw Graphy, Alyssa's other Pterosaur partner, wriggle from off of her back and attacked him. Now released, Alyssa's body was succumbing to the lack of oxygen, slumping against the wrecked hull with the nagging and frightening burn in her lungs.

"Graphy…Noise…Grim-lock…" her mind was getting dim even as she tried to focus, "Andy…Lea…Dav…eth…I just…can't hold…" she had just caught the feeling of Graphy and Noise latching onto her and the blazing heat of a bomb drop. It shook the ground, toppling her onto her side, rocking her pounding head more.

"Gunnery Sgt. Lantaus!" came a cry, a familiar cry. A blurred shape, a tall frame but it was nothing to but a shade,

"Grim…lock?" her mind was playing games with her now.

"Optimus Prime to Lea'Haren! I have found Alyssa but she isn't responsive…her skin is paler than normal and her breath seems quick,"

"_Optimus! Check her breather!_" Lea's voice rang through,

"Lea?" Alyssa asked, weakly reaching her arm out only to be caught by Optimus,

"There is a crack in her breather, and now that I see, its become fogged and condensed," Optimus replied,

"_Optimus she's dying! You need to fix her breather or she won't make it! Do you still have the emergency oxygen breather I gave you?!"_ Lea was in a panic, Optimus worked fast as he could, pulling out the emergency breath Lea had rigged to be carried by a few bots, himself included. Quickly, he removed her damaged breath and replaced it with the emergency breather. Realising her oxygen supply had returned, Alyssa greedily inhaled the soothing air, feeling her mind return to normal, though she wished her head had done the same,

"Gunnery Sgt. Are you functional?" Optimus asked, helping her to her feet,

"Yeah…As functional as a soldier with a concussion can be," she replied, seeing as Optimus wasn't aware of what that was, "I struck my head pretty hard in the crash, nothing damaged but Lea would crack it at me if I went back into battle,"

"_You damn right I will!_" Lea cried through Alyssa's comlink, "_You better get your blue butt back here so I can make sure you're okay!_"

"Lea, I don't even know if it's clear to get back," Alyssa argued,

"And it is not wise to remain, Metroplex still needs my guidance to utilize ground assaults, come with me," Optimus ordered, no time to reply, Noise and Graphy transformed and hooking onto Alyssa – Graphy on her back while Noise wrapped her hips. Collecting her Hydra Missile launcher, she managed to keep up with Optimus and watched in marvel as the giant city transformer – now known as Metroplex – shoot down the Decepticon Marauders.

"Now why can't I have something like that?" Alyssa joked, pulling laughs from her partners as both herself and Optimus made it to a bunkered Autobot squad. Optimus approached Warpath while Alyssa ran to Daveth,

"You okay?" Daveth asked, his reloading left for after he attended to his friend,

"Thanks to Optimus, ready to get back to blasting Decepticons," she smiled, though Daveth didn't look convinced,

"Yeah, and what about the Alyssa we know?" he asked, pulling her back so no one else could hear. Alyssa's face dropped,

"I…Daveth I nearly died," Alyssa replied, showing no emotion, refusing to cry, "The thought of just…slipping away, I'm just glad Optimus came when he did," she sighed, "And I still don't even know where Grimlock went,"

"We'll find him, but first we gotta stop the cons from breaching the Ark," Daveth soothed, placing a hand on her shoulder. Nodding, she sat calmly as he began to apply medi-gel to her head. Their reprieved didn't last as Decepticons began making a push on the Autobot Squad. Daveth remained with Alyssa in the back while doing what he did best; sniping. Alyssa had joined the fight as best as she could beside Daveth – taking out Decepticons that got too close to their bunker but when, despite Metroplex's best efforts, the nearby warp cannon locked onto their location,

"They're shelling the plaza! Incoming!" soldiers on both sides charged frantically to get out of the cannons path,

"It's coming from the Warp cannon! I need to get closer!" Optimus cried over the weapons' fire,

"We'll cover you Prime!" Warpath cried, everyone in the bunker jumped out from cover and transformed. Speeding to the plaza building across the battlefield, one of the last soldiers transformed and allowed Daveth and Alyssa to climb on before speeding off toward the building. Covering their rushing ride and watching over a recovering Alyssa, Daveth managed to keep the few stragglers away just as they crossed the threshold.

Climbing off, Daveth helped Alyssa move with the team and forcing her behind cover as more Decepticons hampered their path,

"How are you holding up?!" Daveth cried over the blasts,

"Crappy that I can't help!" Alyssa called back, "That medi-gel did the trick, I can help!"

"And if I let you then Lea will have my ass!" Daveth snapped, taking a clean shot and covering Optimus as he and Warpath advanced,

"Thought she already did!" smirking from his frozen reaction, it gave her a chance to charge her biotics; twin warps shot from her arms and ripped 2 shotgunners to shreds. But as another wave rolled in, and with a strong swipe of her arm, a shockwave rocketed from her and threw all the Cons into the air, making them easy targets for the bots.

But once Optimus managed to get through and target the Warp Cannon. Daveth ran to Alyssa's side when she staggered, clutching her head,

"I told you so," he hissed, looking at her wound as if began to bleed again,

"Got'em didn't I," she smirked but drooped when the headache rolled through,

"Lyssa! You good?" Warpath called out. The pair looked up to find the other mechs tending to the wounded and others patrolling the immediate area,

"Good…just in pain," Alyssa replied, giving Warpath the thumbs up,

"Where's Optimus?" Daveth asked, running scans to send to Lea for evaluation,

"Went on ahead, we're bunkering here to stop any more Cons advancing on the Ark from here," Warpath nodded, looking over the pair before looking to his men. All of them were now thinking the same thing; Hoping Optimus and Metroplex will pull off a miracle.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

_Personal Log. Earth Calender: Unknown_

_As much as I hate seeing my team arguing or in harms way, the way Lea was cutting into Alyssa about her injuries AND disregarding them was almost entertaining. But I digress._

_Megatron had captured Optimus in the apex of the battle but that only brought the tyrant to be, quite literally, squashed like a bug by Metroplex – Starscream has assumed command, to our dismay, but he was smart enough to call a retreat. To see a robot of his size, before my very eyes, I have to say these Cybertronians continue to surprise and amaze me._

_With Lea's help along with the co-operation of Perceptor and the other Autobots, we've compiled data on their culture, religions, history, government, society and economics for if…WHEN we get off his dead planet. I need to stay positive, for all of us._

_But now it begs the question; what if the council doesn't grant the Autobots asylum? What if they aren't accepted?_

_I just hope our experience and my word as a Spectre will carry enough wait to sway them._

-_END RECORDING-_

* * *

Daveth and Andromeda snickered as Alyssa sulked on her berth while both Ratchet and Lea looked her over again,

"Alright, everything seems alright considering the only concern was your…amp had become dislodged," Ratchet read out, still a little surprised and unnerved him that to enable these biotic abilities they needed to have these implants.

"Simple procedure to set back in place," Lea smiled, but her glare returned to Alyssa, "But if it happens again missy, so help me," she threatened but held no intent as she helped Alyssa up,

"Yeah yeah I know," Alyssa smirked, but the gleam vanished almost as fast as it came and was replaced by a serious gaze, "Has Prime set anything up regarding Grimlock and the others?"

"Yeah, he's sending Jazz and Cliffjumper with Sideswipe to track their last known location," Ratchet replied, clearing away his instruments and to move onto his next patient but jumped back as Alyssa tried to get up,

"Then I'm going too," her tone firm and clear but Lea would have nothing about it,

"Alyssa, you just suffered a concussion and had to have an amp readjusted, you're in condition to~" she was cut off by the Asari's stern gaze,

"Grimlock…The Lightning Strike Coalition are my friends," she corrected, but her voice was betraying her true intentions, "I have to find them,"

"And we will find them," Andromeda stepped forward, "But your well being should come first, what go are you to them when you're still recovering," Alyssa glared, tightening her fists as if holding something back,

"Don't make me say it," she warned, her bright blue eyes flaring, "I will if you don't let me go,"

"We only want to make sure you get through this," Daveth growled, giving Alyssa no choice,

"By the Justicar code – my mission is to find the Lightning Strike Coalition, if _any_ try to stop me I must act on my code," Alyssa was now threatening; though sketchy as the near extinct Justicar code was, it was still very Black and White. Alyssa had designated her mission and her code allowed killing any that got in her way. Lea and Daveth stepped back while Andromeda stood her ground, "I'll kill you if you stop me," she hissed,

"But I'm not," Andromeda smiled, "I'm invoking Spectre rank, I'm going to help you and make sure you stay safe,"

"You organics and your ranks," Ratchet sighed, exhausted by the constant invoking and enacting on phantom codes and conducts, "Just get your afts to Optimus so he knows what's going on, the search team is leaving soon," he groaned, watching as the 2 females walked out,

"Why didn't you stop them?" Lea asked, "A medic's order supersedes theirs, why didn't you back me up?" she demanded answers from both Ratchet and Daveth, her concern for her friends and teammates very evident,

"I'm been a medic for a good 4 millennia, and I've learnt when a patient gets like that," jabbing his thumb to the retreating Justicar and Spectre, "That it's best to let them leave before anything bad happens,"

"Besides," Daveth jumped in, wrapping an arm around Lea, "No one knows their bodies better than themselves, unless there was absolute cause for concern I doubt Alyssa would keep it to herself. You're a great medic, don't doubt your work,"

"But I…just don't want them to die because of something I missed," Lea sighed, leaning into Daveth's warm embrace,

"They won't, Andromeda won't let that happen and vice versa," rubbing her arm, he moved to help her clean up her equipment.

Walking with a mission, Alyssa and Andromeda stepped onto the launch platform where Sideswipe, Jazz, Cliffjumper, Ironhide and Optimus were discussing the mission. Jazz spotted the women first before everyone turned to them,

"Spectre Connors, Gunnery Lantaus, is there a problem?" Optimus asked,

"I want on this mission," Alyssa stated bluntly,

"And I'm making sure she doesn't get killed, sir," Andromeda added, a bit more formally,

"What? I don't think so missy, we can't send in too many on this kind of mission," Ironhide snapped back, "Jazz and Cliffjumper are qualified for these kinds of stealth mission, going may hinder the mission," but the seasoned soldier saw the blaze in the Asari's eyes,

"My code demands I go to find my friends, and I am required to stop any hindrances to that mission," she stated, her biotics flaring a moment, but before an incident could take place, Andromeda stepped in,

"What she means, is by invoking her code – which pretty much covers everything and leaving nothing in the grey – having designating her objective, she can take any step to achieving it," Andromeda explained, cooling Alyssa down, "Even if it means going through friend or foe. It's one of the many reasons why Justicars stay within Asari space as it is complicated to explain to other races," Optimus observed the Asari, and he could see her conviction and willingness to act on her promise,

"What is your standing on this, Spectre Connors? She is a member of your team," Optimus asked, watching as the pair cooled,

"I'd rather not risk a diplomatic incident before diplomacy can be established, besides isn't 8 eyes better than 4?" Andromeda asked, looking to Jazz and Cliffjumper,

"Hey, I ain't gonna say no to backup, they can watch our backs," Jazz added, smiling to the women,

"Very well, Sideswipe prepare the ship," Optimus ordered. The red mech saluted before climbing into the cockpit. Saluting Optimus, Jazz Cliffjumper, Alyssa and Andromeda climbed on with Jazz and Cliffjumper before bracing for take off.

"Just to brief you ladies, we're heading to the sea of rust, hopes those suits of yours can take it!" Sideswipe smirked, directing the ship south,

"We'll be fine, our suits are line with a plastic alloy and an anti-rust agent for hazardous terrain," Andromeda answered back, checking over her guns while she took a seat next to Jazz, "So, once we get ground side, how will the teams work?"

"I'd say, Cliff and you femmes team up while I go alone," Jazz smiled, looking to the others,

"What? Why not make 2 teams of 2?" Alyssa jumped in,

"Unless you got a photon grapple Lyssa, ya won't be able ta keep up," Jazz explained,

"Sounds reasonable but I still don't like the idea of you going alone. Besides, Alyssa and I have our mini bot partners, she could keep up with you if Graphy flew her," Andromeda added, both Squawktalk and Graphy jumped from their attached forms, transformed in mid air before presenting themselves.

"True…but I still work better alone, besides Cliff'll need all the help he can get," Jazz smirked,

"Jee, thanks partner," Cliffjumper sulked, nothing more was said as they came up to the target location.

"This is as close as I can get to Grimlock's last known location until the rust storm clears up!" Sideswipe cried, trying to keep the ship level as the rust storm buffeted them about,

"It'll have ta do Sideswipe!" Jazz called back, moving to the hatch and looking out at the drop. Squawktalk and Graphy hitched themselves onto their respective partners before turning to the others. "You ready Cliffjumper?"

"Always. Ladies?" Cliffjumper turned to them, watching as they cocked their assault rifles,

"Ready," Andromeda nodded,

"Try not to have too much fun without me!" Sideswipe called back, smirking at the drop team,

"No promises! Let's do this!" Alyssa took a run before jumping from the ship, "GERONIMO!" Andromeda shook her head as she jumped out after Alyssa,

"These femmes get more interesting every cycle!" Jazz smiled, "Sides' keep ya channels open in case the rescu-ERS need rescu-ING!" turning to Cliffjumper and bumping fists, following after the girls.

Hitting groundside, Jazz notice Alyssa had switched her breather for an enclosed helmet, smart as the rust got everywhere if allowed. Punching through, Jazz took point while Alyssa and Cliffjumper covered their flanks and Andromeda took the rear guard.

Weaving through the ruins of a once great city, they managed to clear a way to shelter from the rust storm,

"Sideswipe, this is Jazz. We're in but stay close, okay?" Jazz commed in,

"_Will do, you better keep an eye on the femmes too, who knows what is down there. Sideswipe out_," Sideswipe chuckled before the link went dark,

"Oh such a gentleman," Alyssa sarcastically remarked, glancing at Andromeda,

"Knowing our luck, we'll be the ones looking out for these 2," Andromeda smiled, the pair sharing a chuckle. Jazz saw their harmless humour and joined in, sharing a laugh, but Cliffjumper didn't find any of it amusing, turning to sulk a little.

"Cheer up Cliffjumper, we meant nothing by it," Andromeda smiled, moving up to the red mech, nudging his arm with hers. Cliffjumper could see they were just having a josh and cracked a smile, following after them.

"Hey! Over here!" Jazz called out, Alyssa running on ahead to meet him while Cliffjumper and Andromeda trailed behind. Sure enough, the team came across the wreckage of an Autobot ship, still in flames and smoking from the crash.

"Look at the markings! They're the same markings from the ship stolen from the base!" Cliffjumper called over the roar of the storm, moving forward to just beneath ship while Jazz scaled the structure,

"Then it's a good bet Grimlock used it," Jazz called back, moving into the structure. Andromeda spared a moment back to Alyssa; even thought her face was now covered, the Spectre could tell her friend and teammate was tense and edgy,

"Don't worry Lyssa, we'll find them," Andromeda placed a reassuring hand on the Asari's shoulder, seeing she was making no move to shake away this act of comfort,

"We had better find them alive, they're not getting out of the pounding I'm gonna give'em," Alyssa hissed, but her tone was more reminiscent of a worrying mother or partner, so the threat was hollow.

"It doesn't look very stable!" Cliffjumper called, watching as Jazz disappeared into the ship, seeing only the flames that licked and twisted out of the husk,

"It's fine!" Jazz called back, his reassurance doing nothing to curb the team's concern. A few moments later he emerged with a data pad. "Got the ship's logs! Grimlock did use it! He and his team were trackin' an energy spike out here in the sea of rust!" he called out, but the ship began to tip and suddenly collapsed. Cliffjumper ushered the women back while Jazz flipped and jumped clear of the crash. "See? Under control ba~be," he smirked,

"I can't believe you outrank me," Cliffjumper shook his head at the bots antics,

"Is this normal?" Alyssa asked, looking to the red mech,

"Try a daily occurrence," Cliffjumper replied,

"He would not do well under Turian command," Alyssa added, walking beside the red mech,

"That bad huh?" Cliffjumper asked,

"Let's just say they have sticks so far up their asses it's a wonder they can bend over," Alyssa then turned to see the perplexed and somewhat disturbed look on Cliffjumper's face, "Metaphorically speaking. They're _extremely_ strict when it comes to military protocol,"

"Sounds like a drag," Jazz smirked, using his grapple to lift a piece of rubble out of the way, giving the ground-based team to proceed. "Looks like Grimlock made his way though here. After you," passing through, Jazz could be heard using an alternate route,

"Wouldn't be better if we were in teams of 2, not 1 and 3?" Andromeda added, walking down the chamber at point,

"Jazz loves the solo act, makes it a point to keep it that way," Cliffjumper replied,

"_No offence Andy, I work faster solo_," Jazz popped through the comlinks,

"Faster isn't always better," Alyssa added, but nothing more was mentioned on the matter, "Grimlock left quite the trail thought," glancing around at all the scarring and gouges in the walls,

"_Guys! We got company. Time ta play hide and seek_," Jazz snapped through again. Lacking the same cloaking tech that Cliffjumper had, Andromeda and Alyssa pulled back as Cliffjumper took the lead. As they hide behind some damaged tubing left by Grimlock's onslaught, Cliffjumper hid behind some small crates while a group of 4 Decepticons ran by,

"Sweep the area. We don't want any visitors like before," the Con leader snapped, running through the open passage, all but one of the group remained behind. Remained still and silent, Cliffjumper's cloak flickered before he approached the Con and, in a flash, he fell dead.

"_Keep it down 'til we can find out why they're here, kay Cliff_," Jazz chastised, making Cliffjumper roll his optics as the others walked up,

"Jazz, I must express the dislike I have for this team up. What if you need back up?" Andromeda stated, only to hear Jazz chuckle,

"_As much as I'm lovin' ya concern Andy, but even if one of ya were with me, ya wouldn't be able to keep up. I use an energon grapple, remember?"_ Jazz replied but it did little to curb her concern,

"Then please don't do anything stupid," she added, catching another belt of laughter,

"_Oh trust me, you'll be having your hands full with Cliff to worry bout me_," he snickered,

"Can we get on with it," Cliffjumper grumbled, staring at the sealed door, "The door is sealed shut here,"

"There's an access tunnel over here," Alyssa called, pointing to a tunnel behind a large pile of junk, "Can't get to it thought with all…this in the way,"

"_Cliff, you got a det-pack?_" Jazz asked, pulling a smirk to the otherwise sully mech,

"Sure do. Step aside ladies and see a real bot at work," strutting over, he easily set up the pack before stepping back and watching as the blast cleared the rubble to reveal the small tunnel,

"Congrates," Alyssa smiled, looking to the beaming Cliffjumper, "You cleared a blockage," she snickered, turning his prideful smile to an indignant frown. Andromeda just shook her head and proceeded in crawling through the tunnel. Detaching from her, Nightstalker took the head while Rosanna crouched and walked beside her partner. Squawktalk hovered on her other side while chattering and jittering to himself. He made an effort to keep his talking internal but stray words would come through.

Coming to the end of the tunnel, Cliffjumper following Andromeda and her team with Alyssa and her partners at the rear, they come to the chamber behind the locked door. A single Decepticon stood at a terminal next to the door while the level to open into the ruins stood on the opposite side,

"What do you see?" Cliffjumper whispered,

"1 con, hasn't seen us," Andromeda replied, carefully slipping out of the tunnel and approached the con. He hadn't even heard her before her omni-blade skewered him. Lowering his shell softly, she turned to find Cliffjumper heading for the door lever and Alyssa crawling out of the tunnel.

"Right, let's kick some skidplate!" Noise, the smaller lizard looking minibot apart of Alyssa's team, who would could've mistaken for Grimlock,

"Sorry little mech, covert and stealth is the game here," Alyssa stated, feeling a little bad to see the reptilian mech sink,

"Ah scrap, that's no fun!" he whined, transforming into his compact form, reminiscent of a heavy-powered gun, securing to her back where it would normally house her M-960 Cain.

Passing through the door, all three ducked when a strange, tall Decepticon walked across the landing on the other side of a toxic flow way.

"What the hell is that?" Alyssa whispered,

"Don't know…Maybe we can ask him which way Grimlock went," Looking back, Cliffjumper found both Alyssa, Andromeda and their mini partners with looks questioning his sanity. He waved them off and led them to the next area; absolute stealth was necessary here. The Decepticons were everywhere and just one could raise the alarm. Keeping close, Cliffjumper took the lead and used his stealth cloak to scout ahead before calling the women over. The tech they found in the following rooms were recent, Cliffjumper and Jazz would discuss how this refinery was to deal with the by-product of Energon refinery.

Andromeda and Alyssa just kept a close eye on their surroundings, ensuring their presence hadn't been discovered. But with the next chamber fast approaching, Andromeda haulted their progress,

"What is it?" Cliffjumper asked,

"You're cloaking may not clear you through the room," Andromeda answered, showing her concern, "I say let Nightstalker and Graphy through just to scout out how many we have to deal with,"

"_Gotta agree with Andy on that one Cliff, despite your adept skill in stealth, even you can give yourself away_," Jazz added,

"Fine, at least then we can get rid of them without any hassle," Cliffjumper agreed, though wasn't entirely agreeing with them. Nightstalker took no time in scampering off with Graphy close behind. Each took a position; Graphy on a high rafter while Nightstalker used a nearby tunnel. Connecting his systems to Andromeda's Omni tool, Graphy connecting to Alyssa's, they managed to get a scale of the room and the patrols running through them.

"Okay, 1 got 5 on the 2nd floor. 3 overlooking the floor below, 1 in a room alone with another moving back and forth. The door leading on is on that level," Alyssa tracked through Graphy's x-ray vision and sensory input,

"Night's got 3 on the ground. 2 make continuous patrols surrounding the controls for the compactor, our way up, and another moving in and out of the room," Andromeda added, merging the data for a complete overview,

"Okay, I say leave the con patrolling to me. Your two take out the 2 patrols at the same time so they can't retaliate. We move to the compactor and into that maintenance tunnel. We drop on solo here and the con patrolling," Cliffjumper ran them through, liking his idea

"What about the 3 overlooking, what if they see us?" Andromeda asked,

"Well, you have that 'overload' tech thingy don't you, we can take them out in one swoop," Cliffjumper smirked; his point was valid but didn't put them at ease. The overload could trigger an alarm, the last thing they need.

"Alright, I say we do it," Alyssa nodded, agreeing with Cliffjumper. Andromeda resigned herself in the hopes this would work out.

* * *

And she was severely proven wrong.

"All stealthy you said, it'll be fine," Andromeda huffed, scrambling the locks for the doors as they came to the crane controls. Both herself, Alyssa and their partners had ran a marathon when Cliffjumper bungled the plan from the get go; the 2 mechs patrolling witnessing his kill and all hell breaking loose.

"Come on, you can't say that was at least fun?" Cliffjumper joked, sharing a hi-5 with Noise who had greatly enjoyed his share of the fighting, Andromeda and Alyssa were less than inclined. Rosanna had been caught in a firefight, but wasn't worse for wear, just scared out of her wits from a near miss.

"_Yeah, real slick Cliff_," Jazz droned sarcastically at the smaller bot, "_Any of ya hurt?_"

"A little rattled, but functioning," Andromeda replied; tending to the mini teams, she watched as Alyssa and Cliffjumper observed the crane controls,

"I think we can position that crane to get across," Cliffjumper pointed. Their vantage point gave them a greater access to the crane than from the floor below, but the look of the just wasn't convincing,

"I don't know Cliff, it looks rusted," Alyssa pointed out, taking a zoomed shot to analyse. The captured showed rust encrusting the rails and the trolly, no doubt it would make a lot of noise,

"_Don't make a scene Cliff, ain't there another way to get across?_" Jazz asked, voicing Alyssa's very concern,

"No, not that I can see," Cliffjumper replied, a little annoyed,

"How about Alyssa and I, with Squawktalk and Graphy's assistance, carry you over," Andromeda replied,

"No can do! No can do!" Squawktalk chirped, sitting on Andromeda's shoulder, "Red bot too big, too big! Too heavy for Squawky to lift, nope nope nope," Andromeda found it endearing how Squawktalk would jitter like that, smiling at his protest,

"He's right," Graphy stepped in, taking his place with Noise at Alyssa's feet, "Ever with both of our flight capabilities, carrying you and Cliffjumper would be too strenuous, we wouldn't make it over,"

"_What about them Biotics of yours?_" Jazz asked, blind to how Cliffjumper was getting agitated, his idea was just fine and they were just making things more difficult. "_Can't ya like, float him over or somethin'?_" the pair looked to each other and thought; though Alyssa was the adept compared to Andromeda, despite her talent, there may be complications,

"Maybe, but then getting ourselves over may be difficult," Andromeda replied, now noticing Cliffjumper's irritation, "It seems Cliffjumper's idea is the clear winner," smirking and preening from his triumph, he sauntered over to the controls and activated the crane. All of them froze as the grinding, squeaking, shrill shriek of the aged metal grated through the room. Looking back, Cliffjumper felt intimidated by the glares – at least the ones he could see – being shot at him,

"See, now we have a way across," he preened, to his best effort,

"_Yeah, that wasn't loud at all_," Jazz sarcastically remarked, but fell silent a moment, "_Guys! You got company! Wonder what tipped them off?_" rolling his eyes, Cliffjumper led the women onto the crane, their minibots attaching to their armors, and setting themselves up for a fight.

Not a moment later, the platform was swarming with Decepticons. Alyssa put up a barrier while Cliffjumper and Andromeda provided fire. But as one con fell, 2 more took its place; it was a losing battle.

"_No use fellas! Get outta there!_" Jazz cried, the crane grinded to a halt on the other side, giving them the chance to retreat,

"Alyssa! You first!" Cliffjumper called, opening fire as he gave her cover. Seeing her chance, Alyssa ran out first and cleared the door; keeping it open for the others. "Andromeda! You next!" nodding, Andromeda let off a few shots while backing away to cover Cliffjumper,

"Cliff! Come on!" Andromeda cried, taking out cons in order to get Cliffjumper through. Running back, Cliffjumper continued his barrage until both he and Andromeda ran through the door. A well-placed shot tripped Cliffjumper up, striking his side. "Cliff! Alyssa! Cover me!" securing her weapon, Alyssa bloomed another barrier as Andromeda helped Cliffjumper through. Sitting him down as Alyssa sealed the door and cracked the console,

"How is he?" Alyssa asked, looking on concerned,

"I'll live, just a scratch" Cliffjumper grunted, wincing as Andromeda tried to assess his wound but he smiled at their enthusiasm to help and their worry for him. Patched up and ready to go, Cliffjumper took in their surroundings. "Jazz, we entered what looks to be some kind of ancient tomb," Andromeda and Alyssa shared a confused yet curious glance, taking in their surroundings.

"_You're out of my visual range_," static crackled over the comlink, interrupting Jazz's response, "_Signal weak from the storm…Keep me posted til I can catch up,_"

"No problem Jazz, but don't do anything stupid," Andromeda replied, following Cliffjumper out,

"_Oh ye of lil'faith Andy, catch ya topside_," Jazz joshed before the comlink went dead. The ground was about to turn a corner when Nightstalker detached from his usual spot and haulted the group,

"Wait, we have company mistress," he growled, edging around the corner. Crouching, the trio spotted a laser scanner wave back and forth from an unknown source. Moving under a blind spot, the laser suddenly disappeared and heavy footfalls echoed away from them.

"What…was that?" Alyssa remarked, tense with her hands itching on her shotgun,

"I know not, but we must be vigilant," Nightstalker warned,

"Must be that weird mech from before. The one of the other side of the chasm before our…little dance number," Andromeda made light of their last escapade,

"Probably just a drone, we better stay clear or it could sound the alarm," Cliffjumper agreed, brushing aside her small comment, "And by the way, I enjoyed that last number," Andromeda shook her head at how he continued to defend himself when there was no need.

Inching forward, ahead they spied what looked like a scientific, globe-featured statue. Keeping face, they slid in only for the same heavy footfalls to echo within the room. Cliffjumper pushed the girls back against the statue as the strange, Cyclops mech walked past,

"_Cliff, Girls, You there? I'm in the…_" Jazz had commed at the wrong time, and before Cliffjumper could shut off the com, the Cyclops transformed into a brutish horror, pulse cannons for arms as it aimed at the statue. Everyone braced as the metal statue was shattered like glass, not making a sound until the telltale sound of transforming and heavy movement walked away. "_Guys, if you can hear me that Con is using a stealth tracking, it'll see right through your cloak Cliff_," Jazz whispered, making sure not to be too loud.

"How do we do this? We need absolute stealth to get around that thing," Andromeda whispered, peeking over the side at the mech; its back was turned to them before turning and heading to their far right,

"Tell me when it's back is to us, then run behind that container. Don't move while I get the Con," Cliffjumper instructed, and despite what they may think, he was the only one who could pull it off; he had the cloak AND could sneak up behind the mech before it spots him.

Nodding, Alyssa glanced around, watching as the mech finished scanning an area to move onto the next. A simple gesture directed Cliffjumper to cloak while they moved. Moving wide he made it to another pillar just before Con spotted him. But as Andromeda and Alyssa peaked behind the container, they gasped as the Con made a beeline for Cliffjumper. Unable to warn him without giving him away, they had to think of something.

Nightstalker came with the plan as he noticed a small metal rock. Nudging Andromeda he kicked her the rock and pointed to the opposite wall,

"Good thinking," she whispered, handing the rock to Alyssa and pointed to the wall. High above them was an unstable slab that looked ready to fall. Catching on, Alyssa called a little biotic energy into her throw before hefting the rock. Sailing unseen, it struck the slab and brought it down. The drone turned instantly to scan what had happened, and giving Cliffjumper the chance to strike; coming up behind, he jumped onto the behemoth's back and sliced its helm off. Sighing, the foundations began to shake and silencing their victory,

"_Hey! Rust Storm is picking up! Brace yourselves!_" Jazz warned just as the brunt of the storm toppled them over. Cliffjumper ran to the girls' side to cover them from any falling debris. Once the shaking stopped and the room grew still, the group relaxed,

"Jazz, you alright?!" Cliffjumper commed while Alyssa and Andromeda checked on their mini partners,

"_Be glad you're inside_," came the relieving reply, "_This rust ain't doin' my gears any favours_,"

"If you can joke about it then you're fine Jazz," Alyssa chuckled, finding Noise and Graphy without a scratch on them. Jazz returned the laugh but Cliffjumper grabbed the girls and pulled them behind a pillar,

"I hear more Decepticons. Time to go dark ladies," Cliffjumper whispered, glancing out from behind the pillar as the doors opened, another of those tall seeker drone stalked out with 2 Deceptions escorting it. Silently, Cliffjumper directed a plan, telling them to stay while he dealt with the cons. Andromeda refused, instructing that while he takes the drone, herself and Alyssa will take the cons. Alyssa backed her plan, leaving the majority in their favour. Resigning, Cliffjumper agreed, cloaking and heading out.

While their backs were turned, Andromeda took the Con of the far left while Alyssa took the one on the right. Squawktalk and Graphy, silently lifted the girls off the ground while they were behind the piller; one universal flaw shared by all enemies – they never look up. Once Cliffjumper was in place, Andromeda above her mark and Alyssa above hers, they struck at once.

Cliffjumper jumped the seeker and snapped its head off. Alyssa blew her mark away with Noise's gun alt mode. And Andromeda pounced on her target, sending a deadly overload current through his systems. All 3 fell dead while the others regrouped and headed on. Further into the tombs was a security barrier; the alternating green lasers were indeed an annoyance,

"Andy, think you can shut it down?" Alyssa asked, looking at the checkpoint,

"No go, it's on a separate circuit and I can't pinpoint the frequency," Andromeda sighed, looking to Cliffjumper as he transformed and moved toward another maintenance tunnel,

"Shall we," he snickered, knowing how much the pair had come to loath the vents. Sighing, they followed Cliffjumper through. But with the next stretch taking them through more vents, rusting tombs and unstable corridors, the experience was beginning to ware them down.

Finally, crawling out of the last tunnel, Cliffjumper helped Andromeda and Alyssa to their feet. Coming into this new room, it was larger than any other room they had encountered in the tombs.

"What is this place?" Alyssa asked, walking after Andromeda and Cliffjumper,

"Looks like this room has power…is there a switch anywhere?" Andromeda asked, looking around,

"Over here!" Cliffjumper ran over to an extended platform with another lever switch. Pulling the lever down, a large beam of light shot up from the platform below, a large glowing tower soared from beneath them to full height, whirring and shifting the tower shot a bolt of energy at the ceiling. A projecting billowed out and curtained the room and, once it took shape, created a detailed planetary map while the tower shifted and aligned a spiral staircase.

"Jazz, We've stumbled into some kind of…ancient map room of the universe," Cliffjumper awed at the detail and the display. Andromeda and Alyssa on the other hand, were not so much,

"_Does the map point to something big and ugly named Grimlock_?" Jazz asked,

"Watch it Jazz, he might find out," Alyssa warned, receiving the desired result from Jazz,

"The issue I have right now is how this map room is extremely out of date," Andromeda stated, looking at a particular planet, "That's Palavern, and it's time stamped…almost 4.5 million years ago!" she gasped,

"And here, that's Thessia…time mark is the same," Alyssa stated, looking over her omni-tool,

"Everything here is about 4.5 million years out of date," Andromeda was analysing another entry when a huge projection of a certain system appeared before Cliffjumper further up the stairs,

"Guys, you should see this place…It's beautiful," Cliffjumper smiled, staring at the hologram as the others caught up,

"That's Earth. My homeworld," Andromeda smiled, but also noticed the time stamp, "Again, severely inaccurate,"

"_Write a poem about it and move on_," Jazz demanded,

"You think the ancients visited all these places?" Cliffjumper asked but all he received was static,

"Jazz? Do you read?" Andromeda tried but got the same thing. "Something must be up,"

"That or the storm has gotten worse," Cliffjumper added, leading them out of the room. Alyssa took a moment to look back at the map room before the door closed. Something about the room just wasn't sitting right.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

"I'm beginning to REALLY hate Guardians," Alyssa hissed, crawling out of a maintenance tunnel with Andromeda's help, coming into a room with the wall ripped apart – no doubt Grimlock's work.

Walking through the tunnel the ruined wall lead to brought the team to an open area. Being a level higher the team spied no 1 or 2, but 4 Guardian seeker drones,

"Ah come on! This is getting ridiculous!" Alyssa snapped, growling in agitation. Andromeda chuckled at the Asari's enthusiastic anger, only to glance over the open patrols to see Jazz on the other side,

"Cliff, look it's Jazz!" Andromeda called, pulling the bots attention,

"_Guys! We gotta move! The rust storm is picking up again!"_ Jazz commed but his delivery was late, the storm shot through with enough force to topple the towering statues in the courtyard. Shattering and toppling over while they shook the ground,

"Jazz! Look out!" but Cliffjumper's cry was too late as Jazz disappeared from view, as did the Guardians,

"Jazz! Jazz! Come in damn it!" Andromeda called but received no response,

"He fell into a Decepticon Patrol! We gotta find him fast," Alyssa panicked, angered that the storm caused more damage seemingly to their disadvantage,

"We will, we just gotta get out of the storm first," Cliffjumper assure, leading them through the storm. They had luckily dodged a large sculpture's head from crushing them before they found a level below. Jumping down, the whirring and trills from the Guardians heightened their guard,

"We gotta get to Jazz, I say we split up," as much as Andromeda was against the idea, more so the sake of safety but time was of the essence. "The moment one of us finds Jazz call out to the rest, find any Guardians – take them out quick,"

"Got it," the girls nodded and took a different path to Cliffjumper. All hoping the Cons wouldn't find Jazz first. Andromeda easily found a high vantage point and, with guided accuracy, she blew a Con's helm clean off. Alyssa came across one of her own, using cover to get in close and, just before it spotted her, she threw a strong biotic warp and ripped it to shreds. Cliffjumper managed to take his out with a swift jump and slicing it's helm clean from its body. Creeping further ahead, Cliffjumper stopped their group, hearing Jazz's comlink beep.

"Jazz, you there?" Cliffjumper whispered, waiting for the reply,

"_Course I am. Not goin' anyway though. I'm pinned down and them Cons might come back. Shootin' my coordinates now_," a small zip noised could be heard as Andromeda and Alyssa waited with bated breath,

"Got'em. On our way," Cliff whispered, looking to the women and directing them forward. Activating a door switch to move toward Jazz, Cliffjumper took point while the others flanked him.

Coming to a ruined wall, Cliffjumper ushered the girls back when another Guardian came into view,

"Don't move Autobot," the Con drawled, approaching Jazz, pinned under a piece of large debris, "I know there were more of you. Where are you're partners?" it demanded, transforming into its armoured combat mode and arming its guns.

"Partners? I was out here for a little 'me time'," Jazz joked, looking behind the Con to spot Cliffjumper silently approaching from behind. Cliffjumper gave the mech no time to respond as he jumped onto its back. Distracted, Alyssa and Andromeda immediately ran to Jazz's aid and to help him out from under the debris.

"You all took your sweet time," Jazz smirked, feigning hurt as Alyssa and Andromeda managed to lift the debris off of him,

"Oh you were fine," Alyssa smirked back, helping the mech up. Andromeda made a move to check said saboteur for injuries or damages, he was already moving about and grappling away,

"Storm's clearing. We're gonna have Cons on our position in no time," Jazz shot his grapple out and pulled a damaged wall down, clearing a path for the others, "Quick, follow me!" grappling out and ahead of the others, the team shared a collective sigh and they moved to catch up.

* * *

Picking up Grimlock's trail again, they found a feint Autobot distress beacon. Alyssa smiled at the small ray of hope that information gave. Her anxiety lessening slightly as they closed in on the signal.

What hampered their progress was the Decepticons were sealing the origin of the signal with a huge bulkhead and posting guards. Cutting through them was like slicing butter with a hot knife, but did little as more were on the way. Jazz managed to rig a huge bomb in order to unseal the entrance. Once loaded, Alyssa took the bombs left while Andromeda climbed on to cover the right. Regulating their breathing and power cells, Andromeda and Alyssa erected a barrier around the bomb, protecting it from enemy fire. Cliffjumper took point and guided the bomb forward,

"Here they come!" Cliffjumper warned, keeping the bomb on track while Andromeda and Alyssa focused on keeping the barrier up,

"Never thought I would willingly stand this close to an armed bomb!" Andromeda cried out, just catching Alyssa's chuckle,

"This wouldn't be a first for me!" Alyssa cried back, "Though that time was an accident!"

"That's all well and good but…A LITTLE HELP HERE!" Cliffjumper cried, getting pushed back by the Cons. Alyssa took full control of the barrier while Andromeda gave support.

Once in place, Alyssa dropped the barrier and the team cleared the blast radius, unfortunately the detonator was unresponsive,

"Hold up, we can use a detpak to set it off," Cliffjumper tried to clear cover to arm the bomb but Alyssa pulled him back. Pointing to Andromeda, he saw the large sniper rifle from her back expand and lock. Using the debris to level the barrel, a loud thrumming pop rocketed out of the rifle, heavily impacting the bomb and detonating it. The seal cover almost flew off its hinges, dangling slowly from the mechanical arm that once held it in place.

"Nice. Where can I get one of them?" Cliffjumper asked, marvelling the heavy rifle,

"Spectre issue, and it can set you back a fair amount. This was a gift," Andromeda smiled, all three approaching the opening with Jazz catching up. Standing on the edge, they all looked down the deep trench,

"_Whew_, that's a long way down," Jazz exclaimed, taking in the depth and the integrity of the structure. Cliffjumper made a move to take the dive when Jazz stopped him, "You stay here, keep an eye out," he instructed, Andromeda nodded while Alyssa and Cliffjumper voiced their disregards,

"What?! No, I'm not call Cliffjumper for nothing," Cliffjumper argued, "_You_ stay here. I'll take the plunge,"

"And I don't care what either of you say," Alyssa snapped, "the others may be down there, I'm coming whether you like it or not," not giving Jazz or Cliffjumper a chance to rebut, she almost jumped before Jazz took her arm. Turning to glare at him, she was surprised to see his smile. Shooting the same smirk to Andromeda and Cliffjumper, he took both himself and Alyssa down.

"LATER!" Jazz called, over Alyssa's scream of excitement,

"That's Cheating!" Cliffjumper shouted, turning to pout while Andromeda took out her shotgun,

"No point sulking about it now," she smiled, taking a perimeter,

"And you're cool with Alyssa jumping in too?" Cliffjumper asked, taking a seat on one of the scattered debris,

"I wouldn't have been able to convince her otherwise, and Jazz could use all the help he can get," Andromeda replied, taking a moment to detach her mini-partners and set them with their watch, "Besides, she's a Justicar, this is her mission. That stubborn streak of hers will probably keep both of them alive."

* * *

Alyssa wasn't too happy to find the offline shell she once knew as Sludge, hanging from something out of a bad earth horror film. She was glad Jazz allowed her a moment to honour her friend before they moved on.

Now she was more worried about keeping a swarm of robotic insects from surrounding Jazz and herself. Barriers wouldn't work since they were close-combat orientated, so her shotgun being invaluable as they tried to keep the swarm back.

"What the hell are these things?!" Alyssa demanded, shooting one in the helm…or what looked like a helm,

"No idea! But if they can take Grimlock and his team! I think we're gonna find out!" Jazz cried, taking out another, "Damn these things are ugly!"

"They look better dead anyway!" Alyssa took out another 3, kicking one back as Noise took a bite of him. Despite his size, Noise was holding his own, staying close to Alyssa as he shot and bit anything that got too close. But after a rather close call, almost begin dragged down by one of those bugs, the situation was becoming quite hopeless,

"Jazz! As I hate to admit, but if Grimlock had trouble with these…things! We gotta get out of here!" Alyssa cried, regaining her footing and jumping back to Jazz,

"_She's right Jazz, you guys gotta get out of there!_" Cliffjumper cried over the comlinks, agreeing with Alyssa,

"I know! But's it's kinda hard ta do that without an exit!" Jazz yelled back, backing up with Alyssa as more of the horde approached them. Suddenly, a hiss and a pop pulled his attention to one of the tanks on the other side of the room. With the increasing horde, their arrival had ruptured one of the tanks in the room, "Wait up! This could be our ticket out of here!" taking aim, Jazz encouraged the tanks to rupture completely and explode. But in clearing them an exit route, it also triggered a toxic meltdown.

"_Jazz! Alyssa! I've got toxic readings off the scale! Get out of there NOW!_" Andromeda yelled, urging them to flee and quickly. Jazz transformed while Graphy hooked onto Alyssa's back, Noise already attached to her hip as they soared out. Igniting other tanks to keep the horde back, Alyssa managed to fly out before Jazz could grapple out, finding Cliffjumper and Andromeda caught by some of the insects who had already clambered out of their hole,

"Cliff!" Jazz cried, landing gracefully from his escape, turning to shoot out the seal arm, sending both the arm and the bugs attacking Cliffjumper and Andromeda. Taking hold of her, Cliffjumper leaped off the arm and landed by Jazz and Alyssa just as the arm fell into the toxic swill.

"That…was FAR too close for comfort," Andromeda hissed, regaining her footing from the high jump,

"So where do we go now?" Alyssa asked, turning to the mechs,

"We follow the previous energy signal, that's what," Cliffjumper transformed and lead the charge. Jazz and the girls just shrugged and followed after him.

* * *

Coming over the last ridge, a huge strange structure jutting up out of the ground and…a huge reservoir of Energon!

"Sweet Goddess! I've never seen this much…what do you call this again?" Alyssa asked, hovering along side Andromeda,

"Must be one of the last reservoirs on the planet," Cliffjumper gapped, looking over the edge of the bridge at the lake below,

"Yeah, and the Decepticons got here first," Jazz was right, this just made their mission all the more important, they couldn't fail now. Moving up the debris, helping Cliffjumper up to the higher level, they continued to push their way into the facility. But the ground shook and quaked, the giant structure began to move and shift before a huge shockwave threw them back.

"What the hell?" Andromeda recovered first and helped the others up,

"There must be something more going on here," Cliffjumper looked to the structure as the light nearly blinded the sky. Finding little use in lingering they pushed forward in the hopes of shutting down the facility for good. It was unfortunate as the next area had not floor but scattered ruined platforms. Standing a moment, the 4 looked to one another,

"Split off again? First one to find the exit wins?" Jazz looked over them,

"This is a mission Jazz not a~"

"See ya on the other side!" Before she knew it Alyssa and Cliffjumper were already away, traversing the gaps and drops to the other side. Andromeda sighed, seeing as there was no point to argue as they had already split up,

"Ya gotta cool it Andy," Jazz smiled, hanging back with her, "Loosen up a little," then he grappled away, leaving Andromeda behind with a worried gaze and a heavy sigh. It wasn't so much that she was apposed to it, seeing as Alyssa flew off like it was a game more than once, it was the fear of losing her team under her command and the fact it was a serious matter, not a game. Letting the grudge go, she just petted a concerned Squawktalk before he hooked to her back again and they took off.

Their route was relatively quiet, no doubt Cliffjumper or Alyssa were drawing away fire. She commed in regularly to check their progress, putting her mind at ease to hear they were fine. Andromeda managed to shoot down a few snipers ganging up on Jazz and Cliffjumper but otherwise never released a single round. Taking a small shaft to the next area, she found a large tech room full of computer terminals and strange devices scattered around the room. Stepping out, her minibot partners detached from her armour scouted out the room,

"Looks like a security room," Nightstalker sniffs, coming up to another console,

"Oh, I can see Mr. Jazz on this monitor," Rosanna chirped, catching their attention. Andromeda walked over to see it was Jazz, pinned by an open door while sniper drones open fired on him. Moving with purpose, Andromeda opened her Omni-tool and hooked her into the security network, finding the door controls for that sector she sent through the command to lockdown the doors, keeping Jazz safe,

"You alright Jazz?" she asked, awaiting his reply,

"_Woah, thanks for the save Andy_," he smiled back, looking back and forth in the room he stood in, "_Think you could work you magic again and find me a way out?_"

"I got it!" Rosanna smiled, finding the controls and, with a click of a button, a set of stairs shifted out of the walls and allowed the saboteur to move on. Lingering in the room longer, Andromeda managed to hook a bug into the system so she could take remote control through her omni-tool. Handy should another roadblock come their way.

Running down another corridor, Andromeda carried Rosanna in her arms, Squawktalk on her shoulders and Nightstalker running at her side. Coming closer to the others' signals, the corridor changed to an elevated walkway with Jazz and Cliffjumper by another large door on the level below, Alyssa turned up behind her through another corridor,

"Oh Andy, you missed all the fun," she panted, Noise and Graphy jumping off and chattering about all the fun they had,

"That may be, but I managed to hack their security while you were having all that fun," Andromeda added, not giving much of a reaction as Jazz pulled off a maintenance hatch and joined them on the walkway.

Following after him, they came to other dimly lit rooms – observation rooms.

"Man, Cliffjumper certainly has some bad luck," Alyssa snickered, watching as he ran through the test rooms, thankfully none of the subjects seemed to be online. Taking point, Andromeda found an active terminal, typing away to bring up what data it held.

"_You find anything?_" Cliffjumper asked, whispering through the shared comlink,

"It looks like the same galaxy map we found before," Alyssa replied, watching Andromeda work,

"Wait a minute, these look like the same coordinates you guys found before. What's so special about that planet?" Jazz asked, referencing the recorded coordinates,

"It's not just Earth," Andromeda added, bringing up several other pinned coordinates, "Cross-reference shows…they're targeting every homeworld," Alyssa looked over her shoulder to see Thessia was marked,

"But why?" she asked, amazed by what she was seeing,

"Energon, it's the only reason. Each of these worlds hold life right? and because of this, they have Energon," Jazz added, getting questioning and amazed looks from the girls, "What? I don't need to a scientist to know the Cons are gunning for your homes,"

"We've got to stop them," Andromeda transferred the information to her omni-tool before they moved on. But the further they moved, the louder a shrill grinding voice whined and complained further ahead,

"Great, Starscream is here too, just what we need," Alyssa hissed, cocking her shotgun ready to use it. Creeping forward, they found Shockwave standing before a console, a communication was all Starscream was as he ranted and snapped at Shockwave. It would seem Shockwave was more involved with his experiment than transporting the Energon to the new Decepticon Leader, leaving him irate and temperamental,

"_You're wasting too much time on your experiments, Shockwave!_" Starscream snapped, his holograph flickering as the model of the seeker pointed down on the scientist,

"Predictable, you do not understand the true value this tower," Shockwave waved him off, ignoring the ignorance the seeker ballooned with while looking over his results, "It is key to unlocking a bridge across space and time itself,"

"What did he say?" Andromeda whispered, amazed to what she had just heard. A bridge across space and time? How was that possible?

"Do you think he means FTL travel?" Alyssa asked, looking to Andromeda, "Travelling without the relays?"

"I have no idea but," Andromeda stopped once she saw Cliffjumper fizzle back into clarity, stalking up behind Shockwave,

"Cliff, what are you doing?!" Jazz hissed, having no way to stop his partner and friend from doing something incredible stupid,

"_Getting my jump on_," Cliff smirked, fizzling out of existence again as he approached Shockwave. Unfortunately, Starscream had seen Cliffjumper coming, alerting Shockwave before the connection was broken. Shockwave grabbed the small bot and their little scuffle ensued. Alyssa jumped down to intervene followed by Andromeda while Jazz pulled out a sniper rifle, trying to get a clear shot,

"Yeah you jumped into that out," taking the shot he only managed to strike the console,

"You fool! You've ruptured the fuel lines," Shockwave hissed, turning to Cliffjumper and finding Andromeda at his aid and Alyssa with a shotgun trained on him, "Insecticons, deal with these Autobots,"

"Oh great, not more bugs," Alyssa hissed, her eyes darting about the area trying to find where the enemy will come from. Just as Andromeda and Cliffjumper clambered back to their feet, a huge barrier surrounded them.

"Hey! We're trapped!" Cliffjumper snapped, watching as Jazz and Alyssa became swamped with the insect freaks, "They need our help,"

"Then help me find a way to get the barrier down and prevent Shockwave from getting the energon here," Andromeda moved to the damaged console, ripping out panels while her partners jumped off her armour and connected to various systems, "Cliff, how can we bring this place down?" Andromeda asked, hooking her omni-tool in an sifted through her own data cache,

"Access the Energon Parser, we can use that to overload the system," Cliffjumper placed a hand on her shoulder, looking over her as she worked,

"Got it!" Rosanna chirped, bringing up the Parser's commands and began downloading commands to overload all systems,

"Right what else?" Andromeda's scans were reading red with all the traffic and hijinks they were all forcing onto the rebel systems,

"Toxic waste! Toxic Waste!" Squawktalk flapped about the contained platform,

"Yeah, yeah! If we reroute enough toxic waste back INTO the server core-!" Andromeda looked to the red bot as if he had an idea greater than the creation of nanotechnology,

"It should blow the facility!" Cliffjumper beamed, proud of his genius idea and watched as Andromeda and her team worked, but looking out at the battle he wished he could be out there helping Jazz and Alyssa fight.

"Sounds risky!" Jazz called out, kicking an insecticon away from him, Alyssa following with a clean shot to its head,

"DO IT!" her scream only pushed the team harder to reroute all the waste back into the facility, but the horde was growing and time was running out.

"Cliff! We've got it from here, go help the others!" Andromeda ordered, managing to get the barrier down and give Cliffjumper the action he had been pacing for since the barrier was brought up. Jumping into the fray, covering Jazz's back and fighting on with Alyssa, but she was running low on Thermals and the insect bots weren't giving up. Suddenly her suit's online computer pinged, registering increasing levels of toxicity and hazard levels punching off the charts,

"Jazz! We need an exit!" Andromeda yelled, her partners scrambling to reattach themselves before the great run out,

"You got it!" Running over to the only visible exit, Jazz grabbed a thermal detpak from Cliffjumper, arming it on the door. Jumping back a few steps, the bomb blew the doors clean off. "We ain't got time for you guys ta fly out, hope on!" Jazz transformed, copied by Cliffjumper, and nudging Andromeda and Alyssa to grab onto them. Speeding out of the facility while dodging what remained of the horde, Andromeda and Alyssa acted as their defences while they drove as fast as they could.

"Where's Sideswipe?!" Alyssa yelled, hooting as another Con fell to her shots,

"I've hailed him!" Andromeda called back, "I just hope the storm didn't interfere!"

"Guys I'm running out of road!" Cliffjumper cried, a large and rather steep cliff coming closer by the second, and with the facility falling around them it was getting dire,

"SIDESWIPE!" Jazz screamed, the cliff almost reached just as the drop ship flew down for pick up,

"_Someone call for a ride_?!" that cocky smiling voice filtered through the comms. Steadying the ship, Jazz and Cliffjumper charge forward. Cliffjumper leaped first, transforming in midair, Alyssa jumped clear into the cabin with Cliffjumper close behind. Jazz followed, grabbing onto Andromeda as they both made the clear.

"Sideswipe, get us outta here," Jazz ordered just as the explosions grew in ferocity and size, Sideswipe steered them out of the chaos and into the clearing skies.

"You guys have been busy," turning back from the auto-pilot, Sideswipe noted all the new scraps, scratches and dents all 4 of them had collected. Andromeda and Alyssa readjusted their helmets and turned to tend to their teams,

"All in a days work," Alyssa smirked, sparing a glance before turning back to her work,

"Radio Prime, we got big news," Jazz smoothed over to the console, looking to the vid radio link, awaiting Prime's connection and relaying all that they had found. Andromeda kept an ear out but was more focused on Rosanna and Squawktalk – both had sustained damage in their escape, but nothing threatening to say the least.

"_Let's use an old refinery transport, that's what they're built for,_" glancing up she to find Optimus as well as Ironhide, Ratchet and Perceptor all involved with the debrief,

"_Those beasts guzzle energon like there's no tomorrow_," Perceptor argued, not at all liking the options laid on the table,

"_There won't be a tomorrow if we don't get that energon_," Ironhide was right but it lead to another questions. Leaving Rosanna and Squawktalk with Nightstalker and Alyssa, she moved into the conversation,

"And there is the Decepticon to worry about," all attention fell to her as she stood next to Jazz, "Starscream knows an Autobot team had infiltrated the base as well as compromised Shockwave's hold, he'll no doubt send retaliation,"

"_Then we must move the Energon before he can have the chance_," Optimus added, turning to set orders when Andromeda interrupted,

"Perhaps there is another way. To transport the energon AND show up the Decepticons," intrigued, Optimus held his orders and turned back to Andromeda,

"_Any suggestions will be welcomed, so long as the Energon can be kept from the Decepticons and brought to the Ark_," Optimus, along with Perceptor, Ironhide and Ratchet, turned to see Lea standing in the doorway, a small smile just visible behind her glassed helmet,

"_I think I know where you're going with this Andy,_" she winked, and she was right; it was a tactic Andromeda had used once before and, if done right, it would work,

"You betcha, a little plan we organics like to call…the ol'Switch-a-roo" though the name was confounding, Andromeda explained what was required and what would happen if they followed through. In will certainly be interesting how the Decepticons take it.


End file.
